I was giving my girls a lesson today on why Jesus washed the disciples' feet (today is the day Catholics celebrate the foot washing and the Last Supper). I had them all go walk outside in the mud. Then they came to the door, and I got down on the floor with a bowl of water and a towel. I scrubbed, washed and rinsed.
Clare got all twisted, and she basically had her rear in my face. "See," I said, "It really is humbling!" They all laughed and laughed.
I read them the story: Christ was their master and teacher, but he acted as their servant. He was teaching us how to be leaders, how to be masters, how to be teachers: to serve, to care for the needs of those whom you are leading and teaching.
The whole episode was much more powerful for me than for them. The truth is, washing their feet was completely routine for me. Pretending to be humble in service?? The scrubbing, washing and rinsing was all too familiar. Yet I am their teacher (literally), and I am their leader. I am (as I have to remind them frequently!), in charge! I thought, "God really did make motherhood out of the fabric of that Gospel passage." Motherhood--being in charge in the right ways, but being of service in the right ways, and not getting them backwards--is truly made in the image of God.
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