Circle of Submission

Bath day took on a whole new meaning when I started to work as a home care aide. Instead of settling into a nice hot tub to soak and wash away my worries, I pull on a pair of rubber gloves. Once a week I go into somone's home and give someone a bath because this person can no longer do it for herself. I serve the elderly, and it goes way beyond foot washing.

Doesn't sound like a very fun job?

It has been an amazing experience, and I have learned more about life in the shower than I have most other place. I have learned to love, learned to put my needs behind another's, and learned to lead in submission.

Lead with submission. Doesn't that sound weird? Yet it is a simple circle of submission that occurs every bath day. I must submit to the one who needs a bath. I must look out for her every need. I must make sure that the water does not get too hot, that soap does not get in her eyes, that I don't stub any of her toes. I must do my job quickly, carefully, and gently. I have to listen to everything my client says above the sound of running water, and try to make sure the bath is as painless as possible. Sitting on a hard plastic bench can be painful for someone so old, and sit up just for half an hour can be exhausting.

No matter who I am bathing, it is an act of service. I must completely submit to what that person needs. Yet I must also be the leader. I cannot always give the person what they want, because they may not be able to judge what is in their own best interest anymore. They may not be able to follow the bathing process to know when to close their eyes for shampoo, to raise their foot so I can get between the toes, or to rinse out the rag now that everything is sudsy. I have to direct the entire process, guiding my client, to whom I must also submit. Yet the client also leads me, tells me what she needs, helps me do my job better. The circle continues.

So we submit to each other. I am both under and over the person I am trying to serve. She is both under and over me, directing and submitting. It is a strange circle, but it is one that I play out on a regular basis.

Many people think of submission as a dirty word, and something to be avoided, as something bad. Yet it does mean at all that we surrender our rights, our abilities, or our leadership. When we submit to others, we look to their needs, we see what it best for them, and we take action accordingly. We put our self need in the backseat, but we don't leave the driver seat. We just drive with a different purpose, guide our actions by a different standard, look to a different end goal.

When I think of Jesus washing the disciples feet, I cannot help but think of bath day, and the action takes on a whole new meaning. Jesus submitted to our needs in every way, yet he is also our great leader. He is trying to take care of us, to guide us to a better life, a better way. He is trying to wash us clean, and we just can't remember how to take a bath or our hands are too weak to hold the rag, to inflexible to reach down to our toes or shampoo our own hair. We tel Jesus what we want, hope for, desire, think we need, and Jesus takes our desires into account but also tries to determine what is in our best interest.

Bath day is important. If my clients didn't have some to help them in the shower, they would become soiled, become ill, and probably die. Yet so many dread bath day. It is hard, uncomfortable, exhausting.

But it is necessary. How much has Jesus given me that is necessary that I have resented? What has He done to help cleanse me from the inside out and grow me into a better person that I have complained about? Help me to be a better servant. Help me to be a better leader. Help me to submit.

If we could just submit to each other without fear, and retain the integrity of our leadership, how might we change the world? If I could live out the circle outside of bath day, how might my life change?