08.31.05
Where it Began …
Fabulously interesting discussion going on in my “Historian’s Craft” about what history is and what the “truth” is. So very nice to be in a class with people who are both my intellectual equal and quite capable of challenging me at every turn, as I do them.
While working on my first assignment (note taking based on the reading of John Arnold’s History: A Short Introduction), my mind wandered to how it all started for me. Where did this passion for history get ignited? Believe me, it is a huge passion and it gets bigger and bigger as time goes on.
I’m not sure, but maybe it was sparked by a bishop in the diocese of New Mexico. I was in middle school and whenever the bishop arrived to celebrate Episcopalian Mass, instead of standing at a lectern and delivering
the sermon he would take his big Snoopy doll and sit on the steps in front of the altar and invite the little kids to sit with him. Then he would tell stories that tied into his sermon thesis.
One Easter the bishop explained why certain actions were important. He put them in the context of the time (a really big topic we have been covering in class). The big deal about Jesus washing everyone’s feet was because their feet were nasty. There were no sewers, so chamber pots and food scraps were emptied into the streets. Animals did their business in the streets. And people walked around in bare feet or, if they were lucky, sandals through these dusty, dirty streets. Bathing wasn’t really a regular thing either, so feet were just … nasty.
So, number 1, Jesus washing his disciples’ feet was a big deal because their feet were so dirty.
Then, there was the issue of servitude. Only servants washed another’s feet because they had to kneel in front of the person whose feet they were washing. So, number 2, for Jesus to wash another person’s feet was to take on the role of servant, abasing himself in front of his disciples.
This was huge stuff and my still formative mind took it in, mulled it over and thought, “Oh! I get it now.” And maybe, that is the day an historian heard her muse, Clio.