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Good morning,

A while ago I boarded a rickety old train heading for Brighton. As I got on, one of my shoes caught in the door. In struggling to free it, the shoe came off and fell into the railway tracks. Before I could work out how to retrieve it, the doors shut and the train sped off. Feeling totally self-conscious in my one shoe, I sat down planning an early exit strategy to the nearest available shoe shop. After arriving at Brighton station, it was easier to go barefoot than walk lopsided - yet the walk into town seemed interminable.
While walking on cold, hard and cracked pavements without any shoes was awkward, I knew I’d soon be buying another pair. And I began to reflect on all the homeless people across the planet who cannot afford such a luxury. For them, walking without proper daily protection and in all weathers, is an ongoing social and economic injustice.
I thought of what the old saying ‘to walk a mile in another person’s shoes’ actually means if they don’t possess any shoes of their own?
Such a basic part of our humanity can so easily be taken for granted. Yet suddenly, walking down that High Street shoeless, pretending everything was just fine, the permanent plight of others filled my mind. And life’s fragility broke into my everyday awareness.

I pray that today we will walk the path of compassion
and notice the needs of those around us.
May we recognise the poverty in front of us, the suffering that hides in plain sight,
and as best we may, clothe each other with gentleness and care.
Amen.