Walk a mile in your neighbor’s shoes
You’ll understand them better if you do
See the world through your neighbor’s eyes
So many things you’ll realize
Live a day in the neighborhood
You will understand them better if you could
The above lyrics are from a choral piece written by Pepper Choplin and is appropriately named “Walk a Mile” (a great song to look up on YouTube!). I remember singing it in choir and the message of the song was easy enough: You need to put yourself in someone else’s position before you can truly understand where they are coming from.
At first glance this cheery song seemingly carries a superficial message, but when we think about it a little more it is quite profound! It is especially profound in our present moment where social media actually keeps us farther away from each other. It is just that much more difficult to walk a mile in our neighbor’s shoes when we separate ourselves by phones, tablets, and computer screens.
To see the world through our neighbor’s eyes, to put ourselves in their position, is to start to understand how we ought to treat them. When we start to think in these terms, we start to understand what Jesus meant when he said in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7:12, saying, “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
We quickly recognize this statement as the Golden Rule. At the core of the Golden Rule is the practice of empathy. By putting ourselves in someone else's shoes, we gain a deeper understanding of their experiences, emotions, and needs. When we treat others as we would like to be treated, we acknowledge their inherent worth and dignity, creating a sense of connection and mutual respect. This empathetic approach allows us to break down barriers and bridge divides, fostering positive interactions and nurturing healthy relationships.
And for Jesus, there is no equivocation on this matter. Notice the word “whatever” at the beginning of the Golden Rule. In other English versions of the Bible, it says “So in everything…” or “In all things…” Whatever means there are no ifs, ands, or buts when it comes to following this rule. There is no equivocation about how another person treats us or in what situation it is okay to treat a person differently than how we want to be treated.
It also means we still must abide the Golden Rule when others treat us poorly. We cannot wait for the other person to speak first, for the other person to forgive first, for the other person to respect us first, for the other person to follow through on a promise first, for the other person to love us first. Instead, we must be proactive in our forgiveness, in our respect, in our promises, in our love for the other.
In every situation the Golden Rule challenges us to think about how WE would want to be treated, then we will know how to treat the other person. May we carry this very simple but very difficult Golden Rule into every relationship. May we, in our carrying out this Golden Rule, exemplify the love of Christ who first loved us. And may we, in our carrying out this Golden Rule, live peaceably in the Kingdom of God.
