zonabi zMaiL welcome guestlogin register
Imagine the following: A plant grows from the soil, but it is of a higher order than the mineral soil from which it grows. Nevertheless the plant needs [the soil]; the higher could not exist without the lower, and if the plant could think, it would have to say to the earth: It is true that I am higher than you, yet without you I cannot live. It ought to bow down to the earth in gratitude. Likewise must the animal bear itself towards the plant, for it could not exist without plant life. And even so must the human being bear himself with regard to the animal. If a human being has ascended higher, he must say to himself; I could never stand where I do without the lower. He must bow down in gratitude before it, for it has made it possible for him to exist. No creature in the world could exist without the lower, to which it must feel gratitude. Even Christ, the very highest, could not exist without the twelve, and the feeling of his bowing before them in gratitude is powerfully portrayed in [the] 13th chapter [of John]. He, the highest of all, washes his disciples' feet. ---------------------------- taken from the chapter "The Nature of Initiation" in the book Rosicrucian Wisdom by Rudolf Steiner. Often times we do not take the time to give thanks to the various beings, creatures, and even other humans that have sacrificed for our gain. It is critically important for the soul to acknowledge such acts of grace, to realize we have been gifted this life, and to know who holds you up in place, whom you trod upon beneath your feet. And thus is the powerful image of the Washing of the Feet.
