By The Rev. Canon Elise Johnstone
 
You won't find me quoting the film "Forrest Gump" very often, but after I read and heard Bishop Katharine's sermon  preached on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the eleven remarkable women to the priesthood at the Church of the Advocate on July 29, 1974, the words, "You can tell a lot about a person by their shoes" came ringing in my head from Winston Groom's humble main character. We can often tell (and of course, sometimes we are incorrect) what someone does for a living, that someone might be homeless or living with a severe lack of resources, whether or not they can tell navy blue from black, and many more things when we observe a person's shoes. Bishop Katharine wrote of The Rev. Pauli Murray, the first African American woman ordained to the priesthood, who often spoke of her "proud shoes." The shoes that the women ordained 40 years ago wore as they knelt before the bishops who ordained them were indeed worn with anxiety, fear, but also hope, perseverance, some humble pride, and a sense of call.

Each of us carry some of those emotions and qualities in our shoes. When I choose my shoes each day, I ask myself what kind of day I think I might have and try to pick a pair that will equip me for the work I think I will do that day (although there are often unanticipated occurrences that pop up and possibly render my choice as inadequate--like yesterday when I decided to hang pictures in heels). When I chose my shoes this morning, I thought of the women 40 years ago who, yesterday had to choose a pair of shoes that they would wear to walk in procession, kneel, and then stand at the altar as priests in Christ's one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. The walk those women took in their shoes was a long one; a journey that had begun 2000 years before, with preparation that had started even before that, with Eve, Judge Deborah, Hannah, Miriam, and many more. Each of us has gifts for ministry; may we each be equipped by God with shoes that will help us live out the gifts that God has shared with us. May God grant us shoes that we can keep shuffling, walking, running on this journey of ministry where we are the hands, and, more specifically, the feet, of Christ.