“Washing people’s feet is fine,” I wrote last year on Twitter, “but more people would come to church if we offered to wash their clothes.” That joke came back to me last night through the miracle of hashtags and retweeting, and it got me thinking.
I love the church’s rituals, but it is important to trace them back to the source. When Jesus washed his disciples feet, their feet were dirty; they needed washing. His actions were symbolically powerful, but Jesus was doing a job that needed doing.
I am interested in discussing ways that the church can combine the practical and the liturgical, that we can both offer help to people who need it, while making it clear that doing such work is sacramental.
Who’s got ideas? Besides these folks? And this guy.