"It's basically another version of the phrase, "Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in his shoes." The basic idea is that one should not judge a man's (or woman's) way of life unless one has been through the same trials and tribulations: in other words, to walk the same path the person has gone."
It has been on my heart, of late, to defend Sarah Palin's decision not to run for the office of President of the United States. After she announced that she would not run, many amongst her supporters literally came unglued. There was weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, as the hope died of her becoming Madame President in 2012, and coming in as some conquering heroine to save our land. Some who had supported her, turned on her, and began attacking her like jilted lovers, and joined in with those on the left in saying the most vile things about her. Some, like myself, were disappointed, but understood that she had to come to her own decision by weighing what was the most important in HER life, not ours. In pondering her decision, I will have to speculate a bit, but I have come to believe that I have this right.
Many that I have seen turn on her cannot possibly understand why she said no. They do not live her life, and they do not know what it truly means to walk in her shoes. First of all, let me ask some questions of those who have turned on her or are angry with her.
1) Are you married?
2) Do you have children?
3) Do you have a special needs child?
4) Do you have grandchildren?
5) Has your entire family and life been under scrutiny and attack by the world for years?
6) Are you a born-again Christian?
All of those questions are pertinent as to why I think Sarah has decided not to run. Hear me out. If you are a born-again Christian, as Sarah is, and has been since she was very young, you would know that a Christian is always to put GOD first. After that, you are supposed to put your husband or wife, if you are married. Next in the order of things is your children and family, and after that is everything else. Serving your country isn't in the Godly plan of things, although we are all called to be a testimony and a light to all of those around us.
If you understand that to God, our sole purpose is to love Him, everything else makes sense and falls into place. It is why he created us, and gave us free will. He wanted us to CHOOSE to love Him, not be forced to love Him. If you understand that God is more concerned about our Spiritual state, than our earthly existance, and that everything here is to draw us spiritually to Him, then everything here becomes much more clear. Jesus understood the weaknesses and failings of mankind, and addressed their issues, but mainly his teachings were ALL to teach us spiritual lessons, knowing that this life is but a vapor. The scripture teaches 'All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field...The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands for ever'. Isaiah 40:6-8 (NKJV)
Some wonder why Sarah would put her family and husband before her country, when they see her role as saving her country. But what they might not understand is that, as a married Christian woman, Sarah must put the wishes of her husband and the protection of her children after God, and before everything else. The Bible often uses the role of marriage between a man and a woman to typify the role between Christ and the Church. It is one of holy alliance and is symbolic of the Church loving, serving and following the Saviour. Again, our spiritual destiny is God's sole purpose in everything. He created us to love Him, and everything that we go through in this life is to draw us to Him.
I know that Todd has always encouraged Sarah to do what she thinks she should be doing. I know that he trusts her judgment, and knows her heart well enough to know that she will do the right thing. But I also know, that his heart is to love and protect her, as any good husband would want to do. How difficult it must be to have seen his precious wife attacked so viciously for such a long time, and not to be able to defend her. Just sit for one minute and recall all of the vile attacks upon this woman, from being called dumb and stupid, to accusing her of being the cause of the Arizona shooting, to having lies told about her not being Trig's mother, or having her accused of sexual relations with certain people. And those are just a tiny fraction of the horrendous attacks made upon her, since she was chosen as the VP candidate. They have relentlessly stalked her (literally) and exposed every detail and email of her life. The attacks have been constant and unrelenting, and continue to this day. No public person I have EVER seen has been savaged like Sarah Palin has. As her husband, I'm sure Todd must have just wanted so badly to defend her, but felt helpless to do so. He probably knew that to defend her would only heap more coals of hatred upon her. So he did what a loving husband would do, and became her soft place to fall, and her rock to lean upon. I think that if Todd asked Sarah not to run, she would listen to him. And I am not saying he DID do that, but just that, to Sarah, his wishes would prevail. Her priorities are in order.
For those of you who do not have children, I can't tell you about the heart of a mother in such a way that you could relate. Until I became a mother myself, I couldn't know what that experience is like. I can't tell you how it feels to have people attack your children, and how you want to take that pain upon yourself, so that they don't have to feel it. I can't tell you how you want to protect them from all pain, both physical and mental. I can't impress upon you how, when someone hurts your child, your first reaction is to rear up and rip their face off. Even as a Christian, the righteous indignation rises up in you when your child or children are attacked. God has made it so that the mother's first instinct is to protect her child. Even mother animals have this instinct. (This is where the term "Mama Grizzlies" came from.) It is how species survive. Again, Sarah has had to endure the continual attacks upon her children. Even the most helpless, little Trig has not been immune to attack. As a mother I know some of what that must feel like, but I cannot, and nor can ANY of you, know what it must be like for Sarah to have the whole world mocking and laughing at, and making disgusting comments about her precious family. They mock their looks. They mock their intelligence. They mock how they live their lives. They mock their mistakes. They make sexual jokes about them. This has been going on now for 3 years, and shows no signs of abating. Just recently, Bristol was verbally assaulted by some slob, when she went out for a night of fun. As a mother, Sarah must feel that it is because of her, that her children are being attacked. Sarah has been very strong throughout and has practiced great restraint, but the times when I saw her rear up were always in defense of her children. If any one of her children asked her not to run, I know that she would listen to them, AND RIGHTLY SO. She knows that it is her job to protect them first. And for those of you who are angry, thinking that it's because one or more of her kids asked her not to run, and she listened to them...get over it. It's her JOB to protect those kids, FIRST.
Sarah also has a grandchild and another on the way. Her heart towards those little ones is much the same as towards her own children. Until you are a grandparent, you cannot possibly know the feelings of protection you have over them.
I didn't mention Sarah's parents previously, but I know how it must distress Sarah to know what her own parents go through, watching their own precious child be attacked. I know she would not want her elderly, loving parents to continue to have to deal with that either.
And then there is Trig. I do not pretend to have any clue what it is like to have a special needs child. I remember from Sarah's book where she told of finding out she was pregnant with a Down's syndrome child, and the internal battle that ensued, and all of the fears and doubts that must have accompanied that startling news. I remember she was alone when she found out, and how she must have struggled. I also remember that she talked with her husband about it, and how Todd was so supportive of her. I don't remember exactly what Todd said to her, but I just know that he pretty much said "we can do this". Many of you remember in her show "Sarah Palin's Alaska" the episode where she went to visit her native relatives, and Trig and Sarah meeting Trig's Down's syndrome cousin. I will NEVER forget the scene where Sarah speaks afterwards and tears up, thinking about what would become of Trig. In that moment, if I could have taken all of her pain, I would have. All of the uncertainty, and even fear bubbled up, and the wondering...what will become of my child? I found myself crying for her too, and prayed that God would give her the wisdom as she needs it to meet his special needs. I also know that I cannot relate at ALL to what she goes through on a daily basis, having a special needs child. I do agree with Sarah though, that these children are here for a purpose, and I believe that that purpose is to teach us love and compassion. I also feel that in their perfect innocence, that Down's children are just a little closer to God than the rest of us. None of us can pretend to know how just this ONE aspect of Sarah's life might have had some influence on her decision.
Since Sarah has announced that she is not running for POTUS, I have seen a visible transformation in her countenance. In the interviews BEFORE announcing, she looks grim. Her eyebrows are knitted together, her lips are tight and she clearly shows strain in her lovely face. In the interviews of her POST announcement, she looks transformed. She looks relieved, and light and happy again, and has the appearance of one with a great weight lifted off of her shoulders. She is literally glowing. I believe that this is because she knows she has made the right decision before God and her family. I believe that she knows that she has her priorities in perfect order. She also knows that she can still be effective in helping her country, but just in a different way.
We haven't walked a mile in Sarah's shoes. We haven't even walked down the block in her shoes. So how dare any of us deem to think we know what she should be doing? I understand people still trying to pressure her to run, but I want it to STOP. I don't want to be a part of any "earthquake" or movement to try to convince her to go against what she feels to be her role, and feels that she has made the perfect decision before God and her family. To try to convince her otherwise is to say that we know better what she should do with her life than she does. What selfishness and arrogance! If Sarah were a single woman, things might be different, but she's not. She is a virtuous Christian woman, and she knows the perfect order of things. She knows that it is our relationship with God that must always come first, because one day this will all be gone. The grass will fade and wither, and countries will all be gone. The earth will come to cease, but our spirits live on forever. Sarah has her priorities right. She knows that in the end, it is what have you done before God, not man, that matters.
Have you walked a mile in Sarah's shoes? None of us have...no not one. So do not judge.
By Karen at TPN
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In citing the Times, Mr. Palin was likely trying to make the point that the newspaper, which is regarded by many conservatives as being left-of-center, took a skeptical stand on the book. In her article, Times reviewer Janet Maslin 
