At the feet of another

On many days when I arrive back at the house after spending a day at the crèche I wash my feet.  Especially on rainy days the dirt road between the khombi stop and the crèche is cause for mud between my toes when I wear open hiking shoes. The dirt from the courtyard and surrounding neighborhood, carried on the shoes of the learners, constantly deposits itself on the floors of the hall and kitchen.  Many days begin with mopping up droppings from the pigeons that manage to get into the hall overnight.  I usually spill a drop or two of morning porridge on my pants while feeding a toddler.  There are always snotty noses to wipe.  Occasionally a child will wet his/her pants, and needs to be cleaned up.  It seems that almost everything within reach of the kids ends up in their mouths, resulting in many objects covered in spit.  There is always a rather large insect, lizard, or bird to be chased out. Working at the crèche can be a dirty job.  The feeling of warm water and soap on my feet at the end of a long, often exhausting day is a simple blessing.

I was struck during Holy Week by the connection between washing my own feet and how Jesus, through his example, calls us to wash the feet of others.  (This text is read on Maundy Thursday.)  After washing the feet of his disciples in preparation for the Passover meal, Jesus said, “So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.  For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you”  (John 20:14-15).  I realized that, at the end of the day, I’m often washing my own feet and not the feet of others.  The only time that I have literally washed someone else’s feet is during Maundy Thursday worship service. 

It is so easy to spiritualize Jesus’ commandment to wash one another’s feet. In Jesus’ day the washing of feet was reserved for the slaves, for the lowest class in society.  We no longer exist in a slave-owning society, and foot washing is no longer a ritual of hospitality. What is the equivalent of “foot washing” in our day?  How does one place oneself “at the feet” of another?  What are the acts of service that make our lives cleaner and more comfortable, which require getting dirty?  Cleaning toilets, changing diapers, collecting garbage, mopping floors, washing laundry and dishes…  And who are the “slaves” of our day, the people who take the thankless jobs no one else wants?  The domestic workers, child-care givers, nurses’ assistants, janitors and garbage truck workers…  Are these the kind of people, according to Jesus, who most closely following his example of service in our times?  Are we all called to do the same?

Jesus is calling us to get our hands and feet dirty, to take off our “outer garments” and learn the vulnerability of service.  Touching someone else’s feet is an intimate act.  A person’s feet can tell you a lot about them.  It can be difficult to create this kind of physical connection in other mundane aspects of service, but an element of vulnerability is always involved.  In our day there is often a disconnect between the “service sector” and those receiving services.  There is very little human interaction, no opportunity to serve another person, because a “service” is bought and paid for.   

In the mundane, even servile act, of washing his disciples’ feet Jesus shows us, not just tells us, how we are to serve and love one another.  Love, manifest in acts of service, is often this radical thing encountered in ways one doesn’t expect.  The call not to be leaders but servants, to place ourselves “at the feet” of others, is an uncomfortable, inconvenient thing.  How would our days be drastically different if we sought not to be served but to serve?  What would happen if we took Jesus’ commandment seriously and realized that none of us are too good to get our hands (and feet) dirty for the sake of others?