Basin and Towel Ministry

My aunt was an amazing woman….a bit opinionated.
She was a career woman all her life, working as a legal secretary.
She never married.

She was always so stylish.
She would tease my mother because my mother always found great bargains on clothes while my aunt tended to pay full price for hers.
It was a running battle between sisters…all done in fun.

I loved playing with her makeup and her jewelry when I was a little girl.
I played beauty salon and used to ask her if I could do her hair.
She would show off her new look.
She would even come to the dinner table for all to see.
I am sure she washed off the makeup as soon as I went home, but I never knew.

My aunt loved me very much.
Since she never had children, I was like a daughter to her.

She told me over and over that she always prayed for my natural mother since she knew it must have been very hard for her to put me up for adoption.
She would follow that with, if you didn’t come along, we would never have heard the sound of little feet running through the house.
What a lovely thing to have been told.
My footsteps mattered.

She was involved in many pro-life organizations.
Some may have called her an activist. I called her Aunt Cass.
She believed so strongly in adoption.
The thought of killing a baby in the womb, when many couples and families were waiting for children they would never have, broke her heart.

I did not realize, at the time, how much my adoption profoundly affected her.
She saw life as something to protect…something to fight for…

When my own mother died, my aunt got to see the things my mother was not there to see: my wedding day…the birth of my children.
Nothing brought her more joy than the birth of a baby.

Aunt Cass loved to sing. She was quite good.
During the second world war, many of the soldiers, on leave, were invited to her parent’s home.
Everyone would spend the evening…singing.
I grew up hearing many of those old songs.
My mother and aunt would sing harmony in the kitchen.

One soldier published his memoirs and remembrances of the war.
There is a chapter in his book about the sing-along nights and what they meant to him.
That precious window allows me to see these incredible women as young girls.
I realized that they were not much different than me or my daughters.

After her retirement, she stayed active for quite a while.
Soon, her heart got weaker and she was in and out of hospitals.
She was adamant about staying in her own apartment, so I would go in to shop for her, clean, and make meals, often bringing my youngest daughter with me when it was not a preschool day.

One particular day, I came to her apartment alone.
When I opened the door, she looked very old…very tired.
Gone were the career days…the stylish clothes.

I unloaded her groceries, dusted, vacuumed, cleaned the bathroom,
made her lunch and sat down with her as she ate.
Those were the times of leisurely conversations…usually about the children.

She paused.

I have to ask you something…
She was struggling to say what she needed to say.
I am not able to bend down…I can’t do it myself…

What do you need, Aunt Cass?

I hate to ask you…Could you help me trim my toenails?

This was the woman who used to get manicures.
This was the independent woman who worked with lawyers all day long.
This was the woman who told me she loved to hear my footsteps.
This was the vulnerable woman…who needed me…her own footsteps faltering.

I remembered praying for God to give me His loving touch.
To fill me with His grace, so I could love her in this practical way.

Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and invite You in, or needing clothes and clothe You? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?

I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for Me. (Matthew 25:37-40)

I got out a basin and washed her feet, rubbed them smooth and dried them with a towel.
I trimmed her nails.
I looked up into her eyes and saw tears.
I don’t remember if they were hers or mine?

A holy moment…
when two became Three…

Having loved his own who were in the world, He showed them the full extent of His love…(John 13:1b) Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under His power, and that He came from God and was returning to God; so He got up from the meal, took off His outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around His waist. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around Him. (John 13: 3-5)