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June 30, 2005
Musings on Easter and other relationships
Trawling the net, I wandered into Da Goddess after a bit of a gap in my reading of her and other blogs - for which apologies all! That said, I was rewarded for this by stumbling across a rather thoughtful item on the "Great Thursday" - an Orthodox Church name for the day the rest of Christianity calls "Maundy Thursday".
It is well worth a read, particularly for her thoughts on tending for her incapacitated father - and his comfort zones about his daughter (a nurse) attending to his needs. Flowing from this she has a few very interesting thoughts on the Eucharist and the relationships between Christ and his followers and naturally with us.
I was particularly struck by her thoughts on the things that we all have little boundaries with - like her father not being comfortable with some of the more basic things that have to be done for the sick or disabled being done for him by his "child". We all have these boundaries, little markers that we are not willing to relax or ignore, the things that make us uncomfortable if we cross them. I can recall having to face this dilemma when assisting a young doctor to get a blood sample from my mother's femoral vein - it was straying far too close to a very private area for her as far as I was concerned, whether she was conscious or not - yet it is a procedure I have had to help with before with nary a qualm.
Many people whose parents have been struck down by diseases such as Alzheimer's have to face this on an ongoing basis. They are forced to watch as all their beloved parent's dignity is stripped relentlessly away until roles are completely reversed and the child must nurse the parent as they would have themselves been nursed when children - only now with the terrible irony that they are dealing with a fully grown adult whose mind has reverted to that of a child.
In the Great Thursday rituals there is a recreation of the moment when Christ shook his disciples - shaking their faith and their understanding of the Messiah and of Leadership. He removed his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist and performed the duty of the most menial of the household slaves - he washed their feet! In both the Catholic and the Orthodox traditions that is still done by the President of the Great Thursday Eucharist. For both the Priest and for thiose whose feet are washed it is a very, very special and moving moment, for it reminds you very sharply that Christ came not to lead us into battle but to serve - and that He calls us to serve as well!
The Gospel account tells us that He said, in answer to His friends and disciples shocked protests: "I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is the messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
Perhaps this is the lesson for all of us. There may come, indeed for some it has already come, a time when we have to cross boundaries and diuscard markers we have long held "sacred", a part of us that is deeply private. A time when we have to surrender ourselves and our pride and accept the ministrations of our children or someone else close to us. It is not easy, but then, it probably wasn't easy for the disciples at the last supper either.
Well done, Da Goddess, on a very thoughtful and thought provoking post!
Posted by The Gray Monk at June 30, 2005 08:24 AM