Where Your Feet Land
4/4/12
One of the most intriguing abilities that humans have is movement. Our bodies have the capability to move in every direction at some point but for safety precautions this 360 degree directional movement cannot occur at one time. Our feet present the human with the most direct motion possible and it is directly tied to our heart in the fact that our hearts represent the desires of our lives so it is then up to the feet to carry us to this point of contact. Whether the end point is a good situation or not that is something that we have to find out for ourselves but if we listen to our spirit those steps that we take will be supernaturally guided so that if damage is possible, it will be minimal in nature.
In my little cubby-hole I call my work home I have a calendar of wild animals that hangs on one of my walls. I picked out this calendar some time back because I thought the scenery that the animals lived in would provide a relaxed setting. I have always liked calendars with pictures that depicted the different seasons and especially the ones that have this type of scenery along with the wildlife that would be seen during this period of time.
This month’s picture has a bull elk walking through a stream or small river with its head looking forward and acting like he has made this trip many times before. Its steps are sure, methodical and powerful while it approaches the banks of the water. His mouth is open as if he is calling out to the other animals around of his arrival. In the background the picture has another elk standing with its head turned towards the bull waiting to see where he goes. My eyes focus on the feet or hooves of this bull. He is moving in a way that shows his strength and determination to cross the water to reach the other side and join the remaining group of elk. Each hoof splashes the water as it sinks to solid ground and these steps say that he knows exactly where he is going and presents himself to others as one who is in complete control of his ways.
The elk does not know what lies for him on the other side of the bank or if he will stay in that location, he does know that his determination to cross the water drives the need to complete the direction he has taken. The same concept applies when he is running, charging or trotting away his hooves must touch the ground in some way in order to complete the directional motion that is set before or behind him.
Another token of path taking came to me recently when I was studying on the subject of the 1st Spanish Duke of Alburquerque. Beltran de la Cueva was a young lad who found favor in the eyes of King Henry IV of Spain. He was taken to the king’s court and became a favorite of the king and awarded with lavish gifts, large sums of money and vast amounts of land. Beltran was eventually rewarded with the title of 1st Duke of Alburquerque with all of the accompanying prestige and power that went along with the title. With this rise in power and placed in the nobility one would feel like this was the accomplishing feat of a young man, not so since this portion of Beltran’s life was not what he was famous for.
King Henry’s first wife and he divorced over some sexual indiscretions some time back before Henry met Beltran. Henry subsequently married another princess from Portugal named Joan. Back in the early modern times along with all other parts of history it has been known that queens serve in one main role and that role is to produce an heir to the thrown; preferably a male but female heirs were gaining their own representative power. Heirs preserved the thrown and serve as a sign of strength within the other nobility who might have claim to that thrown when the current regent dies. Heirs also allow the common person in that kingdom to know that their ruler is healthy and fit and that deserves to be seated on the thrown.
According to history King Henry IV and Joan of Portugal had a daughter named Juana. Since a certain part of King Henry’s history included sexual problems, doubts quickly surfaced about the legitimacy of Juana birth father. It had been known that Beltran was fond of Joan and had spent many quiet times in her presence so naturally rumors spread about Beltran begin the father of Juana, in which case neither the Queen nor Beltran ever denied. So this issue became the center piece of Beltran’s career and was the most famous reason for his popularity in Spanish history. But the story does not end there, another act that ties these people together occurs just a few months down the road.
Now I admit that most people have not heard of Beltran and Queen Joan of Portugal and their story but most of you have heard about Queen Isabella of Castile which eventually married Ferdinand. Isabella was the main influential regent who had claim to the throne due to her claim that Juana was an illegitimate child of Beltran and Joan. Now, back in the 15th century legitimacy of royal children meant the world when it came to heirs and any claim of illegitimacy placed the entire reign in jeopardy. In this case, these doubts fueled the War of Castilian Succession which was eventually won by Isabella and her supporters.
This conflict lasted for four long years and cost many people their lives, not to mention the other family members that were left to live with the consequences of the war. Beltran and all of the other royalty did not know these people directly and had no clue what the end result of the conflict meant for these people. This conflict also divided Juana and Beltran since Beltran fought for the Catholic monarchs that were against Juana, yes he was on the opposite side of his daughter. This conflict would have never occurred if there was no question about the footsteps that a man and woman took some time in the near past of their lives.
Each person in their life represents a path and every person who takes a step onto the ground advances their feet towards some goal. Each step that we take draws us closer to the goal that we have set for that path, sometimes we do not know what our path entails but none-the-less we have made a choice to walk that path. Walking towards a goal is a very specific and individualistic reality in achieving a goal and that automatically places our feet as an instrument of choice. When you go to a department store at some point your feet have to touch the ground at that point, the same goes when your car needs gas and you have to go to a gas station to fill up the tank. Whether we take a boat or ride on an animal’s back at some point our feet must touch our destination’s ground which marks our choice of arrival.
Our feet also present a path or future path for our children. The choices that we make and the places our feet carry us do have a mark on our kids, even if they have not been born yet. I struggle with this concept since I do not fully know about my biological family and the things that lie within me that I have not discovered. It does not scare me at all but it is the curiosity of what will appear when certain situations present themselves in my life and as they do unfold my mind wonders and wanders about how much more I will find out about my life. As Bugs Bunny so eloquently put it “It’s the suspense that gets me” J
Each step I take in my life concerning my biological family fascinates me in such that it answers some of the internal questions about my life that up until then I had no explanations. Do I base my life on this connection, no but it does give me angles to help others who might be struggling with the same situations in their lives. Not necessarily about being adopted but in the path that they have chosen to take and the consequences that their feet have taken. The similarities of paths taken by each other fascinate me but when the differences in these paths are revealed it reminds me that each one of us are uniquely defined by God and He would not have it any other way.
As my path continues to unfold I realize the importance of restoration and that this process is the only way that I can be back in communication with God on a level that will provide me with spiritual guidance. My communication lines with God do not prevent me from meeting with obstacles on my path but it does allow me to recognize them and to avoid them like the plague. God does not change our path to make things easy or for us to miss out on our lives but He does guide in us spiritually to see our path, recognize the errors or faults, and to correct our ways in order for us to miss instances which were placed in my path to harm my purpose for Him.
All of us have a restoration process that needs to be completed within our spiritual lives. The restoration process starts from my beginnings, even before I was born and it shows me that I was divinely created for a purpose. In order for us to understand the restoration process we must first see the ultimate goals that God has for our lives and also understand what part we play in His Kingdom. Our enemy will continue his attacks on our lives, families, churches, friends and even our enemies but for us to understand his nature in our lives, we must restore ourselves spiritually so that we know exactly where to put our feet down and to walk on solid ground. And every time as humans tell others that their lives are just as divinely precious as all the rest of us we have placed another foot down on our restored, holy path.
DLB
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