Oh, to be a servant...

Washing the Feet of the Homeless

For over three hours on Maundy Thursday morning volunteers from the community came to provide a service of love and compassion on the Human Services Campus.

Fr. Robert Berra, Episcopalian priest and chaplain for the Arizona State University campus, lead the effort by engaging nursing students from the university, inviting community nurses and a physician as well as local churches to be involved. Over 200 “love bags” consisting of several pairs of socks, a water bottle, a nail clipper, an emery board and a nail file were created by local churches and distributed to those who came to participate in the service.

The morning went quickly while clients of the Human Service Campus were invited to come to the Activity room in the St. Vincent de Paul facility on the campus. Each recipient was warmly greeted by a person who was offering to wash their feet. After a few minutes of conversation, shoes and socks were removed and feet placed in a basin of warm water. Feet were gently washed and then dried then lovingly freshened with lotion. Fresh socks were gracefully placed on the freshly washed and lotion-applied feet.

One of the servants of the homeless washing their feet was Rev. Gerald Roseberry, the founder of the Chaplaincy for the Homeless. Rev. Roseberry, an octogenarian, said he enjoyed talking to the seven people whose feet he washed. “I like to get their story first. Then I serve them.”

It was my privilege to wash the feet of one of the homeless men. “Arnold” told me how he and his wife have been homeless a number of times in the past five years. Various circumstances such as lost jobs and lost housing have caused their homelessness. He was grateful for the attention I paid to him and the service offered.

There is something profoundly intimate in washing the feet of another person. The feet are the place where all nerves come to an ending. This is why the ancient practice of reflexology works miracles for many people.

As I was holding Arnold’s feet I was wondering where his feet had been in his fifty-plus years. What did they play when they were in school playgrounds? What halls of achievement had they strolled through? Where had these feet moved to seeking relief from suffering and pain? As I gently washed, dried and applied lotion on Arnold’s feet, I prayed for his feet. I prayed they would walk in paths of peace, in ways of love and joy, and in streets of service to his family and his community.

As Arnold was grateful for my service; I am even more grateful for the opportunity to minister in the ways of Jesus, who washes our feet every day.