This morning in Leicester's Cathedral, I and 200 other clergy and lay leaders sang Frances Ridley Havergal's hymn, "Take my life and let it be"The occasion was a clergy study day all about money. We were looking at ways of teaching and preaching on the subject of God's giving, our response.
I suppose whoever chose the hymn thought it fitted the theme perfectly, with its verses that pledge the utmost commitment. But I, having walked five miles to get there, couldn't get my mind to move on from verse two:
Take my hands, and let them moveNow, dedicating my feet to the Lord's service I'll gladly do, but asking that they be swift and beautiful may require more faith than I possess. Just in case you doubt how difficult a transformation that might be, take a look at the picture, which I snapped when I peeled off my socks, after walking a further five miles home.
At the impulse of Thy love;
Take my feet, and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee.
Notice the webbed second and third toes - more pronounced on the left foot. This mutation hasn't blessed me with swimming ability but neither does it seem to have impeded my locomotion on ground.
Ms Havergal's verse recalls Isaiah 52.7, How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’ I certainly aspire to bringing messages of peace, good news and salvation in Christ and to declare God's reign. But as for beautiful, well I guess it's in the eye of the beholder.
John & I have been staring at your feet (that's what comes of being a shoe retailer!) I always wondered what webbed toes looked like. Not what I imagined - in fact my first thought was that it was just a trick of light plus your sense of humour :) We've certainly seen a lot worse feet in our time. To a lot of people your feet would indeed look beautiful.
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