| John 13:14 – “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” |
I was carrying groceries in from our garage today, an umbrella in one hand, plastic sacks of food in the other. It was raining pretty good at the time. Our garage is not connected to our house, so we have to walk about 30 feet in the elements to the back door of the house. As I made each trip (about 10 trips in all), I thought of this. It would be a good day for me to give my wife an award. “Wife of the month”. Or even the year. She went to the grocery store, knowing it was going to rain, but she went anyway because our cupboards were nearly bare.
I was out helping a friend replace an alternator on his car, but got back before she did. I checked our “Life 360” app which tells me where she (her phone) is at any moment. She was on her way back with a car full of food for us. She was minutes away. I texted her that I was waiting with an umbrella to escort her into our home, and the garage door was up already. She drove in out of the rain. We walked in together. Then I made my multiple trips to get the booty into the kitchen so she could put it all away, much of it somewhat wet.
I remembered this event from probably 30 years ago. My wife was at Tom Thumb on Custer and Lookout in Richardson. It was later torn down. But on that day, she was shopping there with a young child in her cart. And outside, it was raining cats and dogs. She got outside, and was wondering what to do, when a man walked up with a large umbrella. “Mary Linda, can I help you get to your car?” It was Corky Evans, President of the company. When I came home that day, she told me about it. Here it is, 30 years later, a deed that was not even done to me, but for my wife, and I am still blown away by the kindness and humility of it. Corky passed away recently, and he will be in a special place in my heart for that.
When I worked for UPS, we had an employee hotdog and hamburger luncheon one day. In the serving line, passing out hamburger patties, was Sam, the senior person at our site. It made an impression on me.
Imagine for a moment, a man takes your foot in his hands. You are seated. He removes your sandal, and begins washing your dirty foot, and then He repeats this on your other. And then for all your friends in the room. You protest. “You shouldn’t be doing this.” He insists that it should be done this way. When He finishes, He gives an explanation. “If I being Lord and Master can do this, surely you can do this to each other.”
Today, I helped my wife get her groceries in during a rainstorm, just as a man of high degree did one day long ago. Kindness begets a repeat.
-Jeff Beall
