The gift was quite timely. December had finished up with an excessive amount of sloppy, half-melted snow, followed by a deep freeze in January. The roads and the sidewalks were covered with slick patches of ice. On many occasions I have traveled the couple of blocks from my church to my home looking like someone who just put on ice skates for the first time.

Generally, I make it safely to where I am heading. But I did once end up in an urgent care facility when the ice I was traversing won out over my overly confident feet. My arm decided to do what it could to protect the rest of my body, so it shot out to cushion the fall. Unfortunately, the consequences of my arm’s boldness fell painfully on my shoulder, which had not volunteered for this sacrifice. It is amazing how much one’s body leaves you out of the decision making process when it comes to self-protection.

Upon seeing the gift, my first response was it reminded me of those items you see promoted on TV that somehow seem so compelling and essential, but then end up sitting on a shelf, never to be used. Cleats that looked a lot like the bottoms of baseball shoes had been designed to slip over your footwear with Velcro straps holding them in place.

If I were concerned about personal appearance, there is no way I would have slipped into these ice grippers. But, I long ago gave practicality and comfort a much higher priority than style. That Sunday I decided to give them a try. I found myself shooting across those ice patches without the slightest concern about my feet loosing their grip. Since then I have made several trips from home to church and back without looking like a helicopter coming in for a crash landing. 

Of course it doesn’t take winter ice to make one feel like your feet can go out from under you at any time. Ice patches abound at all times of the year and they can emerge quickly and unexpectedly. You can be moving along on a nice dry, clear stretch of sidewalk or pavement and then suddenly you are facing an unexpected illness, the death of a loved one, loss of a job, conflict with a family member or co-worker, worries about your children or parents. Add to those ice patches the uncertainty around the many social changes with which we live, and you can quickly begin to feel like your feet are slipping out from under you.

I don’t blame people who choose not to take advantage of the ice-grippers we call faith. In the first place, going to a house of worship on Saturday, Sunday or any other day does not have the cool factor, especially among the young. In the second place, people are inundated with religious answers of every sort, many of which end up on the shelf. But, from where I stand, faith is not so much about answers as it is about helping us stay on our feet while negotiating those slippery spots that will inevitably come our way.