Wednesday, January 22, 2025
by Rev. Leah Quarles

One of my fondest memories from growing up in my home church is our Wednesday nights. We called it Adventure Club. Students K-12th grade gathered to eat dinner together then we split up to go off to games, crafts, music, and Bible Study. It was almost like a weekly Vacation Bible School. I remember picking at the colored tape on the blue rug in the music room that indicated where I should sit. I remember handbell practice in the sanctuary and games on the lawn. I remember leading the prayer before dinner in Fellowship Hall. Whenever I was chosen, I’d recite the same blessing. Bless us, O Lord, for these thy gifts…” A blessing I learned from my Dad - completely unaware of its Catholic ties. Not that it mattered. It’s still a blessing. But my favorite memory is going into the kitchen after everything was all said and done and finding my dad. Wearing an apron, standing at the dishwashing station. His post. 

As an international pilot for Pan Am and Delta, my Dad was gone often for work. But whenever he was in town on a Wednesday, you could trust that my Dad would be at Adventure Club washing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen. One day he came in with his label maker and organized every shelf and cabinet. After an event at church, you can probably find me in the kitchen at the dishwasher too. It makes me think of my Dad. 

I guess I wasn’t the only one to notice. At my Dad’s funeral our family pastor noticed too, yet he put something together I hadn’t considered before. Our pastor mentioned my Dad’s title of Captain. His lengthy achievements and how he was highly respected in the aviation community, whether by those in the ranks of the FAA or down at the ground roots of grass field airports, with jumbo jets and gliders, not just in Pennsylvania but across the world. We had pilots fly in from Ireland, France and Africa to attend—who placed their wings in my hand and asked me to place them with my father’s remains. Regardless of his great achievements, Captain Miller could be found on Wednesday nights washing dishes at a church. 

I never thought that to be surprising though—that’s how my parents raised us. It didn’t matter who you were, what your title, how much you had— nothing is beneath you. It reminds me of the quote, “If Jesus is your foundation, no one is beneath you.” Everyone is built upon the same foundation of Christ. So regardless of status or circumstance, no one is inferior to another. We are all the same and we all need each other. 

I was reminded of this truth on Monday morning as I served alongside many people at St. Mary’s Food Bank. A pastor passed a shopping cart of food to the next person in line, a retired senior executive of a Fortune 100 company. Who then passed it along to a preschool administrator and middle school students. We all worked together to hand out food so families could eat this week. Not one person acting greater than the other. Not one job more important than another. All willing to serve because we follow a Servant Savior. This is how we define greatness in the body of Christ. 

When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.” -Mark 9:33-35