Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead…Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. John 12:1,3
Frida Bredesen, unsplash.com
Our Lent introduction ended with questions about what helps when experiencing thresholds in faith and life…
What metaphor or question may we inhabit? What way or request may we follow?
Simple acts: essence and choice
One of my kids yearns for a simple lifestyle, one that is reduced of ‘stuff’. I wonder what he thinks of the world he has come into and been shown - what does he see that I present, promote or collude with? He also likes and is in awe with rock climbing, life reduced to a focused moment and a single handhold. This desire of his informs his study and shapes his career choices going forward.
John’s account of Mary anointing Jesus with oil is to me a story of essence and of choices: letting go of what doesn't matter, giving oneself completely to what we identify as does matter.
I used to play 5 a side football. I unashamedly admit that it was the highlight of my week, for this very reason, I think. It may have resulted in a different pungency to Mary’s nard but the act was simple and unadulterated. Don't we all need space in which to, using Mary Oliver’s words in her poem Wild Geese:
Let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.
Prayer has been described as loving attentiveness. Is there room in us to learn and respect what the body and the soul love and so need?