So what shall we carry with us from this story of a woman who anointed Jesus? What is the shape of the vessel she slips into our hands as she leaves the table, and what will we do with it? How does she inspire us to pour ourselves out in the days to come? As we enter into Holy Week and the drama that will ring loud in the coming days, perhaps we might also make a space for quietly brave gestures of beauty and grace, and for artful and intimate acts of compassion that become balm for a wounded world.
Sacred Worth
(For all who love
beyond the boundaries)
Your touch threatens
the way
they say
you must approach
the holy.
“Limits!”
they say,
“God lives
in these limits!”
But you dance
beyond the boundaries
to the center of your selves,
your lives like vessels
filling up
and spilling over.
“Waste!”
they cry,
“Shameful gift!”
But the broken jar
belies the grace within.
And we laugh sometimes
at the beauty that emerges
and we weep sometimes
for the jagged edges
for those who do
what they have the power to do
and are mocked
by the powers that be
for those who miss
the meaning of the act:
that this is essence
that this is all.
Closing Blessing
Blessed are you
who touch with
integrity and grace,
for you give flesh
to the good news
of Christ.
From Sacred Journeys © Jan L. Richardson
P.S. For a lovely meditation on the quieter side of Holy Week, and the “quotidian events” that lend beauty to these days, visit A Whole Holy Week by my friend Elizabeth Nordquist at her blog, A Musing Amma.
for your generosity of Spirit, I give thanks!