Big Toe

Most of us have mixed feelings about visiting medical offices. My feelings are a bit different than most. The quality of the magazines in the waiting room heavily biases my opinion. Because of Air and Space magazine in my dentist's office, I have less apprehension about dental visits than most other folks. I guess that's another topic and has nothing to do with "Big Toes" so I'll move on.
Last week I found a fascinating old issue of the National Geographic magazine in the local Veteran's Administration clinic. What a treat! One article caught my eye enough to reread it after my appointment. It was about archeology. It has to be a long wait normally before I read about that kind of topic. The article was titled "Faux Toe" and it caught my eye. It even had a picture that really caught my attention. The picture was of the mummified foot of a very proper Egyptian lady. She had a very detailed carved wood and leather toe carefully laced with linen and strapped onto her right foot. Scuff marks on the bottom of the toe indicated that it had actually been used probably about two thousand years ago. That fact has led scientists at the KNH Center for Biomedical Egyptology in Manchester, England to build and test an actual replica. They feel that the toe wasn't just cosmetic for a complete body in the "afterworld." Because Egyptians went barefoot or wore sandals, function was very important.
My thoughts went to a pastor who has a prosthetic leg and then, specifically, to a diabetic friend who has had a big toe amputated recently. Further reading, showed that the body relies on the big toe to support an amazing 40% of the body's weight during a normal walking stride. No wonder my friend Bob's recovery from his big toe amputation is so important; a fact I may have mistakenly minimized because "he looked and seemed normal."
I realize that many of us perceive ourselves as a kind of "big toe-like" people. We see ourselves as hidden and valueless- and in extreme cases-ugly, twisted and smelly. We sometimes have difficulty accepting our value in a beauty-oriented visual society. Please realize your value in helping others walk and even run to their full potential during the new journeys and races of 2009. Happy New Year. Do what you were called to do with gusto and purpose. You're valuable and special.