Editorial May 9, 1983 Issue

Feet washing

NATHAN A. TALBOT

It's one of those strong demands made on a Christian. And when we respond with humility, there's real joy in it. Feet washing takes different forms; each has a way of edifying us.

The Bible tells of a less than socially acceptable woman who showed up (uninvited) at a formal dinner party hosted by a Pharisee named Simon. Christ Jesus was invited. Simon's approach to the Master was something of a grand human gesture. The woman's approach? She washed his feet with tears. See Luke 7:36–50; see also Mary Baker Eddy's discussion of the event in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, pp. 362–365. What a contrast.

When we pray, how do we approach Christ, Truth? Sometimes the human mind rushes forth with grand statements of reality, proclaiming the perfection of God and man. But that will never win perfection. Only as this mind is humbled does our spiritual sense surface; then comes an effective discovery and rejoicing that man is made in God's image, pure and whole. Those tears of repentance that bathe the feet of Christ represent a shedding of mortal personality, a cleansing process enabling us to voice the truths of being with spiritual conviction and authority that heal.

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