Feet or Hands
Maybe you don’t accept that such a man ever walked the Earth. Perhaps you acknowledge the historical figure Jesus of Nazareth or believe in the biblical one, Jesus Christ. No matter, it’s not my intention and not remotely within my capacity to decide that here.
Whether you believe this story is rooted in fact or made up, there’s truth in it. Truth that challenges us, urges us on, steers us toward higher ground. You know the story. On the night Jesus was betrayed, the day before he was nailed to a cross, he knelt to wash the feet of his closest confidants, knowing that he was about to be denied and abandoned. He loved to the end, unconditionally, non-judgmentally, at the cost of his life.
He led by example, not out of caution or calculation but rather sacrificial love. The model of leadership he left behind two millennia ago is foremost about the courage of conviction, doing what’s right no matter the consequence. Today, at this fateful moment when so many are being treated as less than human, on the receiving end of heartless acts of cruelty, throngs who profess to worship Jesus are opting not to follow the example he set, choosing instead to remain unstirred and silent.
Even as he continues to be denied and abandoned in our day, the truth of his story shines through unvisited pages. The truth is we don’t have to follow the multitudes; we can choose a different and daring course, we can stir, we can sound off. As civil society is torn limb from limb, we can answer the call to be, well, civilized. We can refuse to sleep through suffering or wash our hands of the grime of injustice.
Maybe you don’t accept that such a man ever walked the Earth. No matter, then take an old country song to heart. When rude seems the norm, when dishonesty is par for the course, we can hold the door, say please, say thank you, don’t steal, don’t cheat and don’t lie, always stay humble and kind. Don’t take for granted the love this life gives you; when you get where you’re going, don’t forget to turn back around and help the next one in line.
Humble and kind. Neither is soft, neither is weak. Both are exhibitions of strength. Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less. Kindness is quiet, yet sounds a chime the deaf can hear. True two millennia ago, true here and now.
As we stand in the breach, what matters most is not how well we maintain our customs and institutions, but whether as eyewitnesses to barbarity we wash feet or wash our hands.