John
13:34-35, Jesus instructs his disciples in the following way: “I give you a new
commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also
should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my
disciples: if you have love for one another."
It’s Maundy
Thursday, the evening when Jesus gathered with his disciples to do the work of
a slave by washing their probably pretty disgusting feet -- not symbolically
washing just one disciples' feet, but all the disciples’ feet -- and to command
them, "Love one another."
Loving one other during a global
pandemic adds a whole different lens to this.
We can’t know, but did Jesus have in mind washing one’s own hands and sheltering
in one’s home without letting anyone else in, as examples of loving one another?
While we
don't customarily wash feet these days (which was an act of hospitality
performed by slaves), our great act of love for others during this pandemic is
as simple as washing our hands, and (not as simple) staying home. We do these things, we think, to protect ourselves.
But there is a whole new concept throughout the world now: “Flattening the
curve.” In my whole life, I never once
considered the simple act of washing my hands with soap as an act of loving
others. But in this situation, it
absolutely is.
I
donated blood today, trusting the American Red Cross's even stricter than usual
adherence to distancing, sterilization and safety. All were masked and worked with gloved hands. I am O- (a “universal” donor). Because it is needed and used in so many
urgent situations, and it is not a common blood-type, there is always a state
of urgency, if not "emergency," in needing O- blood. Clearly, this need doesn't go away in a
pandemic. In fact, if the American Red
Cross shut down blood donations around the world for a month or months, where
would that leave other sick people who needed blood to heal or even
survive other maladies?
Donors
were showing up just as they were scheduled to.
We were buzzed in at the front door, one at a time. Our temperatures were taken immediately when
we walked into the building. Chairs for
waiting were set a little more than 6’ apart.
Hand sanitizer was set at strategic places all over the room. Every possible precaution was being taken to keep
the donors and phlebotomists safe. None
of that could have taken place without that first and then repeated step: washing hands.
In the meantime, we live with this
confidence:
It’s Maundy Thursday, and it’s dangerous
out there.
But Easter is coming…
