I went to boarding school with a guy named Andy Sudduth. Andy was a very likable guy, with a curly mop of strawberry blonde hair, a quiet but engaging personality and a big smile to go with it. He grew up in Exeter, New Hampshire where dad was a doctor. They were Episcopalians and lived right next to Christ Church, where his family attended occasionally.

I met him when I went to boarding school in Exeter. He was a day student, and he grew to use my dorm room as his locker room of sorts. He’d drop his back pack or whatever in my room, which was only ¼ mile from his house. And despite the fact that he was hopeless at playing catch with any sort of ball, he was a world class athlete.

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Didn’t your mother teach you to wash your hands? My mother did, too. But statistically it’s a significant problem. There are a lot of studies out there that give a wide range of estimates. Some say as high as 85% of people wash their hands after using the restroom. Others say only 50% use soap. Another says only about 25% wash properly.

It’s a really good idea. Of all the pandemic instructions we’ve gotten over the past year, hand washing is and has always been our most important hygiene routine. The truth is, an alarming percentage of people don’t do it, or don’t do it right.

Still, it bothers me a bit when I go into a restroom at a restaurant, grocery store or gas station and see the “Employees must wash hands” sign. I at once think, “Shouldn’t everyone wash their hands?” and “I sure hope they are” and “Why do we need this sign?”

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Jesus said, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them” (John 6:56)

John’s Gospel is distinct from Matthew, Mark and Luke in a number of significant ways. There are a number of events that the others omit or only reference, and John leaves out much of what the others relate. John also tends to include quite a lot more about what Jesus said regarding himself and his mission.

For example, John’s account of the night before Jesus died has a great deal that the others don’t. He alone shares the foot washing in chapter 13, the “I am the way, the truth and the life” discourse in chapter 14, the vine and branches in chapter 15, the promise of the Holy Spirit in chapter 16 and the High Priestly Prayer in chapter 17. That is five full chapters on just that gathering.

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