Drudgery... even saying sounds so dreadful. Drudgery as defined by Oswald Chambers is "work far removed from anything having to do with the ideal-the utterly mean grubby things". Sometimes the work put before a person is just plain dreadful, so insignificant, so menial, so gross, so "beneath me"... it takes a lot, and the right frame of mind to be able to do it. Chambers talks of some work of drudgery Jesus did: the washing of a bunch of dirty fisherman's feet (tax collectors and political zealots too). Jesus served as a leader, which is unheard of, but also served in a way that was completely beneath him as a teacher. This is not the first time Jesus has turned thinking upside down... first comes last, to lead you have to serve... dichotomies and contradictions indeed. Jesus gets sleeve deep in the drudgery of washing feet... and he calls us to do the same. Audio Adrenaline came out with a song several years ago that speaks of an attitude necessary to work in drudgery. The song is so aptly named "Dirty":
Tired of being clean, sick of being proper, I want to live among the beggars and dig out in the dirt, step outside the walls we built to protect us, don't be afraid to get some mud on your face, come on come on everybody, come on come on and serve some one. Let's get dirty, let's get used, no matter where you come from, if your beaten up or bruised, let's get foolish, let's get free, free to be the one thing, you were meant to be, let's get dirty. You might get a bruise, or some blisters on your fingers, you might start to question or wonder what it's worth, you might slip and fall from the burdens that you carry, but you can't have this treasure till you dig it from the dirt.
May we all go out and get Dirty among the drudgery.
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