Washing Feet

          Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. (John 13:14)

            Once upon a time, feet were much more a part of society than they seem to be today. There were rituals that involved feet and shoes or sandals. In addition, since people wore sandals and most of them had to walk to get from place to place, even if you took a bath and dressed in your best clothes, a walk down the block to a dinner party would result in one’s feet getting dirty. It became a sign of hospitality to have someone wash the feet of guests, but it was one of those tasks that were either assigned to the lowest member of the household, or delegated down to that level. That means even then, it wasn’t something everyone was clamoring to do.

           But, there was another aspect of this. If my servants serve you, you’re a guest who for some reason is treated as one of the family – another of the same kind, again. If I serve you, you may still be another of the same kind, but you are so dear, or so important to me that acting like the lowest household slave is a positive thing in my eyes.

          Today, foot-washing isn’t the mark of hospitality that it was. I’m not given to having lots of guests. The thing that comes to mind from when I was growing up is taking and getting jackets. But what the exact task is doesn’t really matter. The point is that we are to do to and for one another not only what is polite, but what we would deem to be the lowest of tasks – whatever that might be to us.

           Right now, the things that come to mind for this is caregiving, whether for a child or an adult. It’s not that we relegate this task to menial servants, but that what a caregiver has to do is something most people would prefer to think is beneath them. The reality is that caregiver is among the most basic forms of loving service. That’s what “care-giving” means.

          Perhaps for you, the answer is different. That’s OK. The point is that whatever your most menial task is, it’s what God calls us to be willing to do ourselves for the benefit of others.