Good morning all! Happy Saturday!

Today’s scripture:

John 12:1-8(NRSV)

12 Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 2 There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. 3 Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” 6 (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. 8 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

There were a few thoughts that I had this morning when I opened the scripture passages for the day. First of all, wow, we are really getting close to holy week and this story really brings that message home.  Second, the women really are the ones who get it in the story of Jesus.

Dealing with the first…..Mary is setting the stage for what is to come. It is days before Passover and already she is preparing herself and Jesus for what is to come. Jesus has raised her brother from the dead and she sees the writing on the wall.  Her extravagance is in order in this space.

Dealing with the second…over and over again, we see that while the male disciples just don’t really have a grasp on what is up, the women disciples will show us the way. They will be the first to arrive at the tomb and get it (I don’t want to give away the story or anything :)).

Today I will be with a group of women in my life that I am so thankful for so it has gotten me to thinking about these amazing women in our midst who get it. They are the Marys who offer abundance and generosity and wisdom. They are those who tell us what is what. They are the women in our lives who call out the right and proclaim the good. They are the ones who have stood before us and have given us hope and love and grace.  In my life, I am so privileged to have so many of these amazing women gathered around me.

There are women like the Mary in my life right now who is 93 years old. Mary sits in the third row from the back on my right hand side.  She comes early to early worship because that is when her facilities bus can bring her.  So I make a point of sitting by Mary every once in a while to catch up.  She is going to Hawaii in April with her kids because she can and she thinks she probably should while she can. It will be a good learning opportunity. She holds my hand and tells me about her husband who is slowly fading with dementia.  She holds my hand and tells me what she thinks about current affairs. She held my hand and cried because she was so excited about things happening in my life and said, “Oh Courtney, I thought I would never see this in my lifetime. I am so happy! Now, you have to go dear because I am really going to cry.”  She gets it. Mary is amazing woman who makes me see the world in a totally different way.

And this is just one of oh so many faithful disciples who show us how to live and worship and gush over Jesus! How privileged are we!

Who are the Marys in your life?
Peace
C