Mary, friend and disciple

These blue skies and (very) fresh winds would make you think it was Ekka time (August) but it's only mid-July. I am rugged up in ugg boots and a cashmere sweater thrifted on last year's trip to the snow fields. Do you ever do that, think back to where you were a year ago? Shaun and I were just reminiscing about our wonderful trip to Falls Creek. We drove down with a vintage Jayco pop top, taking in Dubbo Zoo on the way (which reminded me of my seventh grade bus trip to the snow and Canberra) and were delighted by Mt Beauty, the beautiful alpine village where we stayed. After a couple of days of downhill we decided we would try our hand at cross country skiing, the following day. Shaun went out for a day when we were in the Czech Republic and really enjoyed it (I was in bed with tonsillitis, the remedy for which is slivovice, a Czech brandy made from plums and bed rest). The cross country section at Falls Creek is called 'Windy Corner' and the day we ventured out, it really lived up to it's name. It was the windiest day on record for that whole year and despite the conditions and lack of appropriate attire, we pushed on. The whole thing was a complete debacle which ended up with me screaming into the wind in utter frustration, tears streaming down my face. Cold and wet, I was trying with all my energy to get some forward momentum, pushing my body into the impenetrable wind, but making little progress and sliding backwards half the time. I was also very disgruntled at my husband who had just skated off into the blizzard, leaving me behind and couldn't hear me calling for help or my lack of regard for his behaviour (read not my most genteel of moments). Shaun later told me he felt invigorated by the challenge, like he was one of the Antarctic explorers, Shackleton or Amundsen. I identified more with Robert Scott, perishing in the blizzard. The funny thing was, after I was completely spent and had pretty much given up, we found a spot a little more protected by the wind and I seemed to get the knack of it. We pushed on a little more but were both so wet and cold we decided to call it a day and promised we'd try it again next year.

It was a humbling experience and later, as I reflected in the warmth of our Jayco with a hot chocolate, a gentle reminder of how we can sometimes feel in life: alone, trying as hard as we can but getting nowhere and everything pushing us backwards. We had planned to return this year for another season but with our little man nearly here, we've put that plan off until next year when I will hopefully be back to my limber self.

There are a few Mary's mentioned in the New Testament. I have chosen this particular Mary because of something I felt the Helper reveal to me about her late last year and a few other reflections since then that I'd like to share.

It was in November, I checked the date because I wrote to a friend about it about it the following day. I was taking Sabbath rest [for those unfamiliar with the concept, I touched on it in my last post about Lydia]. I have been trying to incorporate the practice into my life and I'm still tinkering but it's really about turning down the noise for a day and being still.

I had been reading Matthew 26 and came across the part where a woman pours a pint of nard, an expensive oil or perfume, on Jesus' feet whilst he is at a dinner party. It's also referenced in Mark 14 and John 12 which is where we learn the location of the dinner party (Bethany) and the identity of the woman, Mary, sister of Lazarus (whom Jesus raised from the dead) and Martha. Some of the guys arc up about the waste (a year's wages) but Jesus defends Mary's actions and actually tells them that it's in preparation for his burial.

[When writing this post I was curious to learn a little more about the actual oil and found this information on the doTerra site. Based on today's price a pint (600mL) of this oil would be just shy of about $8,000.]

I kept reading on past this particular section when I really sensed His still small voice urging me to go back to the part about Mary and ponder that a bit more. So I did, I really took my time. I started to think about how it was that Mary was so in tune with what was about to happen to Jesus. Perhaps not consciously, but intuitively, she chose that time and place to carry out this extravagant act of love for the person she had come to know as Lord, personal friend and healer of her soul.

I did a quick scan of the whole book of Matthew and realised that Mary and her family were one of only a few that welcomed Jesus into her home [Matthew (Levi), Peter, Simon the Leper and Mary, Martha and Lazarus are the only ones whose homes are mentioned in Matthew]. There may be more I have missed, but what I was beginning to ponder was that most people who came into contact with Jesus met Him out in the community as part of a group or went to him for a healing; but so few welcomed him just to be with him, into that very private space of the home, that place of intimacy, the place where Mary sat at his feet and listened to him. That would probably have been unheard of in that time, for a Rabbi to give time to teaching a woman. Here is just another example of Jesus' showing women that he valued them just as much as the blokes. In fact, from the stories we read about in the four gospels (all written by men), it was often that women were the first ones to catch on to what was happening when it came to what Jesus was up to e.g. the woman at the well or Mary Magdalene who first encountered the risen Christ at the tomb (reference here).

My journey to get to know Jesus started in the privacy and brokenness of my own life, but was nourished by fellowship as I reached out and connected with other believers. By sharing that journey with my new found family, being open and honest, I found healing and restoration. God loves us in so many ways, through the beauty of his sunsets but also through the love and kindness of others. Fellowship with others is an important part of our faith, in fact it's one of the teachings of Jesus that we are part of the 'body of Christ' and is seen in the examples of the early communities of believers.

'And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.' Hebrews 10:25

Similar to when new baby is born into a family, we all need to be part of a spiritual family for mutual care and nurture. Sometimes though I find that some folk attend events, meetings, places where we gather to worship but are unfamiliar with the intimate presence of Jesus in their own private space when no one else is around. We need both. That is what Mary and a few others had really discovered - a personal, powerful and enduring friendship with Jesus, the kind of friendship that meant they could call on Him in their darkest hour when their brother died, and their friend not only wept with them, sharing their grief but also brought life from death. This is the friendship I want to continue in with Him, the kind of friendship that will see me through my life and the challenges that are just around windy corners I cannot see.