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Having loved his own, he loved them to the very end
I do not know what actions I will take on my last day, or what actions you will take on your last day.
But I do know that on Jesus’ last day, he rose from the table, took off his robe, picked up a towel, tied it around himself, poured water from a pitcher into a basin, stooped down, took the feet of his disciples, and washed them.
On his last day, Jesus shows his disciples how to live a basin and towel kind of life. He loves them fully, gracefully, from his heart, and with his life. On that last night: Jesus shows his disciples how to give and receive perfect love.
He does not love them because they are perfect. He loves them because he’s the God of perfect love.
And though we ourselves might forget how to love perfectly…. our souls never do. For our souls come from God and are going to God.
And for God’s sake, so are you.
We often think perfect love is about being strong and right and sure. But perfect love— this basin and towel kind of love– is about receiving and giving the most treasured part of ourselves to another. It’s slowing our roll, like Jesus does on that last night.
Noticing. Understanding. Giving. Receiving.
And though loving in a basin and towel kind of way can be difficult, Jesus taught us it is always full of grace. And you will be happier, says Jesus, if you give it a try. And let yourself be washed with the perfect love that Jesus’ basin was filled with on that last day of his life:
You will need to let yourself be washed with self-compassion, for you cannot care for another if you do not see yourself as worthy of love and Beloved by God. So you will need to speak loving words to your own soul, to gently hold your own life with the same tenderness God holds you. For your life carries the promise of perfect love.
You will need to let yourself be washed with courage, for you cannot face any fear and foreboding or stand for what is good in this world without a deep trust that perfect love is stronger than you realize. It will hold you through the endings and the trials that seem like endings. Your courage carries the promise of perfect love.
You will need to let yourself be washed with humility, for you cannot be part of the perfect love of God if you do not NEED it. If you do not need God’s tender care,
I’m afraid you are stepping out of the reality of what it is to be human. You are not made any differently than I am. Or others are. To be human is to be in need of love. Needing love is not a sign that you are flawed. Needing love is a sign that you are human. Needing love carries the promise of perfect love.
Trusting in perfect love is a vulnerable and precarious practice, and strangely powerful. It’s a love that makes our own attempts at carrying around basin and towels profoundly important in this world.
I believe God planted within this imperfect world basins and towels all over the place. And to find the towels and basins of God, you only have to look to your own precious life, and the places of this world that long for wholeness. Each precious day: a basin and towel kind of day. For your closest friends and family. For your neighbor who is hungry. For the ones fleeing war. For the ones living in fear. For all those who could use a basin and towel action filled with compassionate, courageous, humble love.
I do not know what actions I will take on my last day or what actions you will take on your last day. But I do know this: every day we live in this world could be a basin and towel kind of day.
A day to trust that perfect love is all over this world.
