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Mark 14:4-6,8
But some were there who said to one another in anger, “Why was the ointment wasted in this way? For this ointment could have been sold… and the money given to the poor.” And they scolded her. But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me … She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial.”

To ponder
I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world. - Mary Oliver, “When Death Comes”

Broken open
They’re right of course. The oil could have been sold and money given to the poor, and it would have been a good and noble thing to do. But mere logic can never grasp what the heart requires.

The woman’s soul is so broken open in love that she pours it all out on Jesus, an anointing not of oil alone, but of the beauty he awakens in human hearts. Not counting the cost or considering what others think, she acts for the sake of love alone. The others did not yet understand, but chastised the self-giving that is the mark of those who fall in love with Jesus.

Perhaps the best question we might ask is, Do we understand? Do we know the power of love moving us beyond ourselves and our fears to love beyond reason? Just what does love require of you? Answer that question and you know exactly what Jesus is calling you to do.

Prayer
Break our hearts open, Lord Jesus, that we may pour ourselves out for this world you so love. Amen.

(from: “A Story to Tell: Devotions for Lent” Bekki Lohrmann, Harvard Stephens Jr., Lydia Posselt, David L. Miller; Augsburg Fortress, 2020)

 

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