In the Shoes of Humanity
by Michael Doyle

Too many are missing the vocabulary
Necessary for living well in God's family
These things should be known and taught
For God's messages to be truly caught

The time to win a fight is before it starts
Setting the right intentions in our hearts
Ownership is the righteous path of healing
Approaching life with love is soul revealing

When catching those in sin, we must bring gentle correction
To restore that person's path to the right direction
Mindful of the laws of Christ for the sake of redemption
We must test ourselves in our holiest contemplation

We must love people with the right integrity
As God keeps us focused in right authenticity
It's this response taken without stealth
That keeps life right and relations in good health

Too may want to catch other in their sins
Finding fault and mistakes again and again
It becomes a judgment game in the struggles of each other
And we forget God's grace found in loving one another

In this fallen world, hurt people hurt other people
Even while living under the roof of the Lord's steeple
This condition must be approached below the surface
Knowing the Lord's loving embrace in its true purpose

To find a way past conflict, we determine what mean people mean
By learning the backstories behind our fellow human beings
Growing in knowing the ways that people come to make mistakes
This opens the doors that bridge to love instead of heartbreaks

Empathy points to the gentleness of love and knowing
Walking the ways of peace, not assumptions, in our growing
Let's lean-in to reach past and beyond life's fences
Walking in patience and putting away our false pretenses

Reburned as Jesus in the moments that need real grace
Empathizing with the troubles humans find and must face
It is there in combatting narcissism armed with empathy
That we come seeking understanding and offering sympathy

We should not seek to always put others in their place
Instead having the courage to put ourselves in their place
This is to model how God stepped into the shoes of humanity
With love trumping judgment instead of our unholy vanity

The truth is that the path of always being abrasive
Is not the passage toward being more persuasive
The Holy Spirit's need is to find the added value
In our approaches toward others in what it is we do

Opening doors by keeping in our peace of mind
Not regretting having given our ugly piece of mind
We cannot gain by leaving relationships behind
It is the pain of the blind wounding the blind

Healing the wounds of brokenness takes tact
Relieving pressure by understanding how we act
Assessing ourselves to act with God's compassion
And adding that true value as it it is good fashion

To be worn well in the end as we pump the breaks
Of offering mercy instead of riding life's mistakes
We must build each other up instead of bringing down
Helping each other as if family in need of victory's crown

Let's live the miracle of understanding prayer
Learning to grow better relationships through care
In doing so, let's find the courage to truly love one another
We are, after all, sisters and brothers

(c) October 29, 2023   Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved