http://www.daily-times.com/opinion/ci_9834153

Taking a good walk in another's shoes

Staff Writer
Article Launched: 07/10/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT

Network television planning always includes its highs and lows for viewers,
but FOX and its FX Network hit on something good and noble with their
series "30 Days."

Hosted by filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, who stars in the reality show, each
segment in the series follows what it is like to spend 30 days in someone
else's shoes.

Imagine that idea: Walking in someone else's shoes.

It's not about shoes in the literal sense, but about living the lifestyle
of someone completely different from you, and doing it for 30 days.

This week, the show aired an episode that featured a 30-day stay on the
Navajo Nation.

The Dennison family hosted Spurlock on its ranch in Tohatchi. During his
stay, he visited Navajo schools, met various officials and leaders, and he
looked for work.

The only job he could find was at a tire shop making $25 a day.

He lived without running water or electricity, as do many Navajo who live
in thousands of households on the reservation without such services
available.

Perhaps most important, however, is that he learned about the culture and
the human nature of the Navajo, by being willing to invest 30 days and
nights of his life living with them.

The long-ago written Bible teaches us that we should be willing to walk an
extra mile for another person, so it is not as if this television show
invented the idea.

Yet, most people by human nature choose, knowingly or unknowingly, to
remain ignorant of what drives and motivates our neighbors, or of what
hurts or upsets them, what makes them happy, what makes them proud and what
matters to them regarding cultural significance and heritage.

What concerns and what pride and what reverence do the Navajo have?

Anglos?

Hispanics?

Those of religious convictions?

One true characteristic that we all share is that we all are different.

Everyone is not going to believe in things the same way you do, nor
appreciate the same things, nor share some of the same concerns that you
might. However, that does not mean that others who are different do not
deserve the same respect that you feel you deserve.

A rainbow is made more beautiful by the diversity of color it provides. The
more vibrant each individual color shines, the more beautiful the rainbow
as a whole becomes. Diversity in our community is the anchor on each end of
the rainbow, and only if we allow such vibrant freedom to every color will
we realize our pot of gold.

We should all be so willing to walk from time to time in someone else's
shoes.

It certainly would make for an interesting journey, and an educational one.