One of the major skills all students must develop as best they can is reading comprehension. It starts early with book reports, then later on you have to read a novel and write a more interpretive paper on it. We used to call that looking for the “deep hidden meaning” – or DHM – a game of sorts to figure out what the author was trying to get across, or at least what the teacher thought the author was trying to get across.

That art of interpretation can be difficult and more so when applied to life.

Jesus is working his way from the Decapolis back into the heart of Galilee to Capernaum. Now he is teaching the disciples in a direct and private way, and they are just not getting it.

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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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