Two little items in the local paper caught my eye the other day. Inwardly I thought, How can people be so stupid? Why don’t they smarten up? The first item dealt with new modern “stylish” shoes, and what they are doing to our feet and backs. People, says the author, “will put up with a lot, including pain, to look good.” “Heels as high as seven inches are available for the man crazy enough to wear them.” The author goes on to say that wearing high-heeled shoes can induce “a slouching posture, a sway back and a duck walk” when the muscles in the foot are restricted in their natural movements.

“Severe muscle cramps in the back of the leg are another result of wearing high-heeled shoes,” says the author.

Now even though it doesn’t take a great deal of brains to understand that God never intended us to walk on such monstrosities, you might be inclined to say: So what? If they want to wear them, let them go ahead and do so.

Just two things: Why do they wear them? “Women will wear anything if it’s foot flattering and appealing to the opposite sex . . . . If she wants to be like everyone else she will be content to suffer a little with a higher heel.” That’s the first problem I have with it: the urge to conform, to be like everyone else, to be “in style.” To keep up with the Joneses. That especially bothers me when Christians adopt this kind of attitude. This is nothing else than a brand of “worldliness” among us.

The second problem I have is this: “Pharmacists are making a lot of money filling prescriptions to give patients for remedies for abused feet, and the general public is picking up part of the tab for the care of avoidable foot problems.” “It’s costing the Alberta health care insurance plan a lot of money.” That’s when I start getting a little angry. It may not be as bad as paying my health premium to provide abortions, but it’s bad just the same. Why should I pay for other people’s foot problems when they could easily be avoided?

The second item is about our terrible habit of wasting good food. “A recent study says the one kilogram of residential garbage thrown out each day in southern Ontario is more than 22 per cent food waste. That adds up to about six kilos a week for a family of four.” Toronto’s Royal York Hotel, equipped to feed more than 7,500 people at a sitting, “puts out about six 45-gallon containers of food waste each day for a Pickering, Ont. hog breeder.” Most of this waste “is left on customers’ plates.” Concludes the column writer, “We may some day be forced to adjust our eating habits.”

Is this not a terrible thing in a world with so much hunger? Why do people order more than they can eat? Partly, of course, to keep up with the Joneses again. We have to pretend we are among the upper bracket of the social ladder. That means you order a T-bone steak when a hamburger would be sufficient. You eat what you can, and the rest you dump. Who cares?

Well, God certainly cares. And we surely ought to also. God forbids all abuse and waste of his gifts (H.C., 8th commandment). He is going to call us to account for what we do with the precious gift of food. Why is it that our society is so unthankful and so wasteful? Paul talks in Romans 1 about men who, although they knew God, “they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him.” (vs. 21). Over-against this we are admonished, “And be thankful” (Col. 3:15). How thankful are we Christians? Is it evident in our life-style?