This little story by Betsy Shirley on the God’s Politics blog asks us an important question.

A few weeks ago, I got a free sermon on the metro.

During rush hour in Washington, D.C., I boarded a nearly-empty metro car, grateful to find a seat in the 5 o’clock frenzy. However, as the automated doors slid shut, it became clear why this particular car wasn’t so crowded: A man was standing in the middle of the car, waving a Bible and ranting against gay people.

As a Christian, said the man, he felt called to point out sin when he saw it. He waved his Bible around and screamed words like “abomination,” “hell,” and “judgment.”

A few people told him to be quiet while the rest of the rush-hour crowd fidgeted with their smart phones and tried to ignore him. … “Yeah, but have you tried washing their feet?” asked another passenger from somewhere on the train.

It’s only six words, Have you tried washing their feet?, but it’s a huge question.  The sermon that this one little question delivers does not refer only to LGBTQ persons, but really to all of our neighbors.

• Have you tried washing the feet of Governor Walker? Of those protesting in Wisconsin on the part of teachers?
• Have you tried washing the feet of pro-choice activisits?  How about anti-abortion activists?  
• Have you tried washing the feet of that one annoying guy at work?  Or maybe your boss?

In John’s gospel, during the account of the Last Supper, Jesus gives us a very clear commandment to wash one another’s feet — a commandment as clear as Love your neighbor or Do this in remembrance of me.  We literally obey this commandment on Maundy Thursday, with a liturgical foot-washing, but rarely do we think about it during the rest of the church year. 

The act of washing feet is filled with symbolism.  To do this, you must kneel in front of another person.  You must hold their filthy, dirty, nasty feet in your hands — a surprisingly intimate gesture — and tend to them.  Our feet take so much abuse in the course of a day (and how much more so, in first-century Jerusalem!), and this action treats our tired, sore, dirty feet with gentleness and tenderness.  To have our feet washed by another puts us in a vulnerable position, unable to escape or to protect ourselves.  It is a position of great trust for another.  So indeed, an equally worthy question is this one: Have you let them wash your feet?

Undercover Nun invites you to hold these questions in your heart.  The next time you are frustrated by another person, the next time you are outraged by political shenanigans, the next time someone hurts you — before you respond unkindly, pull out these questions.  Have I tried washing her feet?  Have I let him wash my feet?

The first and greatest commandment, Jesus says, is this: Love God.  The second commandment is just like it: Love everybody else.  The entire story of God and God’s people is based on these fundamentals.

(Source: zazzle.com)

Undercover Nun finds it profoundly sad that any parent would have to field this question from their children during the pre-game show for a sporting match.  It’s a difficult enough question to broach anytime, especially with boys.  But in this context, with sports heroes who are idolized by children as perfect role models, well, it just sucks.

How, for example, do you explain this to your children?

Michael Vick got two years in jail for torturing dogs, but it seems that these flashy athletes can get away with torturing women by having good lawyers, blaming the women, and/or eventually buying them off. As a coach of young athletes, I know how much the pro stars serve as role models, for good or ill. These players don’t have to be saints, but allegations of sexual assault obviously cross the line into an area that can’t be just swept under the rug.

Or this, this sickening statement by a sportscaster?

The line that stuck in my craw, written by a sportswriter before the game, was that Roethlisberger might have been able to find redemption with a Super Bowl victory. Really? Win a football game and you are redeemed from reported actions of sexual assault? Despite how much I like Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, I really hoped Ben would lose the game. As a dad and Little League coach, I’m disgusted by Roethlisberger’s behavior, and I wouldn’t want a Super Bowl win that would be seen by anyone as “redeeming” it.

(emphases mine)

Undercover Nun does believe, as Christians must, that any person can be redeemed, no matter how abominable his or her sin.  And I know that God works in mysterious ways.  But I really doubt that redemption tends to happen in the glitz and flashiness of a Super Bowl.  Rather, that redemption tends to be fairly quiet and inward, something other people never see except by its fruits.

I don’t remember ever having a “What is rape?” talk with my parents.  I picked up on the meaning of rape from my reading, in classical mythology and in other forms of fiction.  Nor have I had a rape talk with either of my children.  I suspect that, despite how uncomfortable it would make them, I should.

So here’s a question: Have you talked with your kids about rape, sexual violence, and sexual abuse?  Or, if you’re not there yet, did your parents address these subjects with you?  If so, how?

Another question: There are lots of “birds and the bees” books out there, to help parents in having The Talk.  Do you know of any books that help parents in discussing sexual violence with their kids?  Especially ones that address the different approaches you’d take in discussing rape with boys or with girls?