washing feet

I was so mad at her!  She had been doing little things all month long that just left me feeling upset.  It is never easy to live with someone else, and my roommate was really starting to just bug me.  And in all honesty, I was making the situation worse because instead of confronting her and letting her know I was upset, I just kept building anger, pushing it down, and becoming more and more resentful towards her.  And, because I was hurt, I was being rude right back to her.

One day when my anger towards her was simmering, I entered our dorm room; she wasn't there but she had left a note for me on the white board: "I want to talk to you tonight when I get off work."  Great!  She is mad at me too! I tried to study while I waited for her.  But I couldn't.  Instead I rehearsed in my mind the words I was going to say to her to confront her with my list of grievances.

Finally she opened the door and came into our room.  My heart was pounding.  The anger inside that I had been surpressing wanted to spew forth.  Her first words were, "Can we go somewhere else to talk?"  Ok.  "Can you drive us since I don't have a car?"  Ok. 

We didn't talk in the car except for her telling me where to go.  She had me turn into a grocery store parking lot.  Away from the store and most of the cars, she had me park near a ledge.  She asked me to go sit on the ledge and wait for her.  As I obeyed her, sitting close to the lamp light, I wondered what on earth she had planned. 

She knelt on the ground in front of me and began to open her backpack.  She pulled out a towel, a bowl, and a bottle of water.  "Is it ok if I wash your feet?"  And there in the grocery store parking lot, at ten o'clock at night, she washed my feet.  Then she opened her Bible read some scripture, apologized for being grumpy and selfish recently, and said nice things about me. 

I was in tears. She was in tears.  I repented of my anger and of the behavior towards her, and we both forgave each other. 

I have always admired her for the way she handled our spat.  How wise she was to end our silent fight by being a servant! 

Jesus says we "should be quite different [than worldly leaders]. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be the slave of all.  For even I, the Son of Man, came here not to be served but to serve others, and to give my life as a ransom for many"  (Mark 10:42-45). 

Picture is of the "Divine Servant" statue by Max Greiner, a Christan artist from Texas; one of these statues is on our alma mater's campus, a school where servant leadership is fundamental.