Nard-ing Ourselves Out of Our Comfort Zone

“Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair…” –John 12:1

The Fragrance of Nard

Routine.
Comfort zone.
The same old same old.
For the most part
it’s where we live,
content or resigned,
and when the unexpected happens
it shocks and disturbs.

God, according to Isaiah,
says, expect the unexpected,
watch for the new,
the seemingly impossible,
even outrageous.

When Mary broke the jar
it was as unexpected as it was outrageous.
True, for its contents,
there could have been care for the poor –
a temporary act of kindness.
But the love that broke the jar
wafted on the fragrance
of the nard
filling the house
and lingers still
confronting the same old same old
the comfort zone
the routine.
© Jeff Shrowder, 2013. http://thebillabong.info (accessed 03.13.13)

Beloved, as Lent moves us closer and closer to Jesus’ triumphant arrival into Jerusalem may you expect the unexpected. God is doing a new thing—always. May God bless our ministry with new things and may we all be a blessing.

Rev. Wendy Miller Olapade