Feet, Feet, Feet

Since it is Holy Week I've decided to re-run this post from January...

I just love babies, don't you?! One of my relatives is expecting, and we are all so excited!! I can't wait to see the little one! 

The other day, while I was making a visit I got to thinking about feet. (Bear with me here.) I was thinking about how cute and lovable baby Jesus' feet would have been. Think about it: it can be hard to resist kissing the tiny toes of any newborn, but imagine being able to kiss the adorable feet of God Incarnate! I bet Mary and Joseph spent long hours playing with and caressing His little hands and feet... though I'm not sure that they sang "This Little Piggy Went to Market." :) 

Needless to say, feet are mighty important things. They not only provide balance but also help us get around.  Without them, it would be hard--nigh impossible--to walk. 

When hearing the word "foot" one might think of a general appendage that is used for walking. But the truth is, feet can vary greatly: they can be hairy (like hobbits)/hairless, large (dufflepuds)/small, dirty/clean, overgrown/pedicured, fungus infested/... the list could go on and on. Basically, even among humans they can be quite diverse. 

Beyond a wide range of variation among types of feet, there are also many expressions in which we reference feet. Below I've included several that are well known, but there are many more.

put one's foot in it (or put one's foot in one's mouth ) informal say or do something tactless or embarrassing; commit a blunder or indiscretion. 

 have (or keep ) one's (or both ) feet on the ground be (or remain) practical and sensible: it's a very exciting time for the business but it's important that we keep our feet on the ground.  

have (or get ) a foot in the door gain or have a first introduction to a profession or organization.

have one foot in the grave informal often humorous be near death through old age or illness. 

my foot! informal said to express strong contradiction: Efficient, my foot!

feet of clay a fundamental flaw or weakness in a person otherwise revered.[with biblical allusion (Dan. 2:33) to the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, in which a magnificent idol has feet “part of iron and part of clay”; Daniel interprets this to signify a future kingdom that will be “partly strong, and partly broken,” and will eventually fall.]

at someone's feet as someone's disciple or subject: you would like to sit at my feet and thus acquire my wisdom. 

get one's feet wet begin to participate in an activity. 

But why am I talking about such things? Feet are so integral to normal life and even influence on culture (making it into our everyday cliches), that it might be of value to meditate on Christ's feet. 

We can picture Jesus' feet throughout his life:  his adorable baby feet in Bethlehem, his dusty sandaled feet that carried him in the ordinary years at Nazareth and throughout his public ministry, and his bleeding and swollen feet on the road to Calvary.

Like I mentioned earlier, I don't believe anyone would have trouble kissing Jesus' precious baby feet. 

We move on to the dusty, calloused, and hot feet of his public ministry. Here most people would refuse, rather grossed out. Yet these are the same feet that the immoral woman washed with her tears (Luke 7). And again, these are the same feet that Mary, the sister of Lazarus, sat by and (later) anointed with precious oil. 

Let us then try to imagine Jesus' feet at the time of his passion: bruised, bloody, swollen, torn up by the ascent to Calvary, dirt and grime caked onto Our Lord's open flesh.

 Placed at His feet at this point, I think many of us would recoil in horror at the thought of kissing them... Far away are those beautiful baby feet, yet here Jesus fulfills his salvific mission: Jesus--Yeshua " Y[ahweh] is Salvation."  

  

While we are not living at the time when Jesus walked the earth (and so cannot physically honor his precious feet), we can honor them through our ordinary tasks done well. 

As everyone knows, some tasks can be hard to do and can even repulse us in their repugnant (or just annoying) nature. Let us turn to these tasks with more love than before... as if every motion in their completion is a way of kissing Jesus' Divine feet on the Cross. 

In this way, our tasks can become a work of love--united to the work of True Love on the cross...

After all, we are called follow in his footsteps.