Serving in Humility – But with Dignity…
By Sandor Szabo, MD, PhD, MPH & John Schloss, PhD.
Professors, School of Medicine
During the holy week of Christianity, the most well-known day, besides Holy Friday, is probably Holy Thursday when Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with his disciples. But before breaking the bread & offering wine to the apostles, an unusual event happened: “Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him (John 13:1–5).” Jesus did this with dignified humility, with a call to his disciples: “[13] Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. [14] If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. [15] For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.” – as described in The King James Version of the bible. Thus, foot washing is more than a sign of hospitality and forgiveness of sins; it’s also a call for action!
Fortunately, AUHS has a long-standing tradition in offering a “Lamp Unto My Feet” service on this day of the Holy Week where students and faculty members wash the feet of homes people in Long Beach. In addition to foot washing, health check services (e.g., medication reconciliation, blood pressure and blood glucose level checks) are also offered, in addition to distributing ‘health bags and grocery items. This year these actions were performed on Thursday, March 28, at the AUHS-affiliated ‘A Church of Love” (including American Theological University) on Orange Avenue in Long Beach, CA. Dozens of AUHS nursing and pharmacy students as well as several faculty members of Schools of Nursing, Pharmacy, and Medicine volunteered their services.
The pictures below (from left to right) show Ms. Kim Dang checking the washing section of the events; then, Pastor Gregory Johnson as well as Drs. Ann Chung, John Schloss and Sandor Szabo washing the feet of unhoused visitors:
The foot washing service this year was made special by the in-house production and distribution of small bars of soap, bearing the logo of AUHS which were designed and prepared by our chemist-biochemist Dr. John Schloss and his wife Marietta.
The small bars in the above photograph were used for the foot washing. The AUHS soap was prepared as an example of what was possible in our laboratory, where we made new molds for AUHS & AURA. Here are pictures of the small soaps that were included in the hygiene bags distributed to the participants and other similar soaps in this series. These are frankincense and myrrh scented soaps with gold inclusions. The Ziplock packaging was to make it easier to open & prevent contamination of other items in the hygiene bags. The small round soaps that were shrink wrapped were made easy-to-open by including a perforation next to the label. That made the small soaps easy to unwrap by tearing away the shrink wrap:
This year’s repeat performance of “Lamp Unto My Feet” was a good reminder to our students, faculty, and community that irrespective of our status in the society, degrees and professions, we can all serve, in humility with dignity, our less fortunate brothers and sisters.
April 9, 2024
