Poems, Sermons and Writings

John 13:1-17, 31-35.    John 13   Most of us would have seen a cardiac arrest on tv or in a movie. Let me tell you that it is a very sanitised version that you see. When I was a young medical student and then a young doctor in the hospital I went to my fair share of cardiac arrests - what I have never seen in those dramatised versions is the hierarchy that occurs when managing the situation. The rule was - the bottom of the pecking order got to do the mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. If you were a junior house surgeon that was your job unless there was a trainee intern or a medical student. There was a reason for that - it could be pretty unpleasant - to be graphic - we’re not just talking bad breath here but frequently vomit was involved.   I found myself thinking of this when I read the story of Jesus washing the disciples' feet - back in those days the same sort of rules applied for foot-washing as we used to apply to resuscitation - the bottom of the pecking order got to do the