Diapers

I realized a couple of weeks ago that changing diapers is a sacrament, or it's at least sacramental. In the Middle Ages there were big discussions about what constituted a sacrament, and some listed up to thirty-five sacraments. I'm not sure if changing diapers was one of them.

There's something about taking part in something so mundane and repetitive that makes me think of the major Protestant sacraments involving bread and wine and water. We all take food and water regularly to survive. As a natural consequence, we also poop. Praise the Lord for potty-training, but short of that, something needs to be done to help our baby survive. On a long enough timeline, an unchanged diaper is dangerous, just like lack of food and water.

If water is sacramental symbolizing our need for spiritual cleansing, and if bread and wine is symbolic pointing to our need for spiritual nourishment from God, I think changing a diaper symbolizes interminably repetitive service in the midst of the crap of life. These physical acts are necessary to physical survival, but they also mediate a spiritual realization of our utter dependence on God and one another.

Perhaps as I continue in the faithfulness of diaper changing, my bold assertion about how we should serve others will truly sink in.