The washing of feet

Available for 29 days

Spiritual reflection to start the day in Holy Week with Rev Richard Frazer of the Church of Scotland. Good morning. Once, when I was on a long pilgrimage walk over several weeks, after walking with rain-soaked feet for several days I ended up with terrible blisters. A fellow pilgrim saw my predicament and insisted on tending to my feet. It was a moment of both grace and awkwardness. He soothed my suffering feet with such gentle care. But, as someone so used to tending to others, I found it quite challenging to accept the kindness of this stranger. A friend once wondered to me what the church might have looked like if, instead of sharing bread and wine at worship, we washed one another’s feet each week. It is what Jesus did for his disciples just before his arrest. He was their leader and teacher, and he stooped down and performed the most menial of tasks. Jesus constantly turned the tables. He fraternised with the lowly, the poorest and those who suffered and he humbled himself with the friends who looked up to him as their leader. Those with power found that unsettlingly subversive. People who suffer hardship carry stories that are important to hear. People fleeing from war and persecution warn those of us who live at ease just how cruel and fragile our world can be. Isn’t that why Jesus consistently sought out the poorest and undertook the task of the lowest servant? We deceive ourselves if we imagine that living a life of ease can be taken for granted. Great Love, your subversive tenderness and care for those on the edge teach us about the wisdom that emerges among those who suffer. In a world harrowed by brutality and suffering, help us towards this wisdom which we still desperately need to learn. Amen.