scarcity vs plenty (John 12:1-11)

What Mary did was scandalously extravagant, not to mention conspicuous. A fortune of fragrance emptied over a holy man’s feet…

Judas objected more from greed than charity, according to the narrator. Jesus told him there would never be a shortage of people needing help. And he affirmed Mary’s act as perfectly appropriate.

Mary’s gesture flowed from fearlessness. She didn’t budget her devotion against a bottom line of zero.

God’s economy is not based on scarcity. Mary’s gift wasn’t going to cheat the needy. Jesus was confident that his followers wouldn’t run out of resources necessary to their calling. God’s economy is predicated on plenty.


Copyright Scott Burnett 2006

Decipher

I currently have a crush on the word decipher because of the fetching poetry of its etymology.

cipher = zero; therefore, decipher = de:zero making nothing into not-nothing un-nothing-ing nothing

Here’s the thing: we communicate via symbols and gestures encoded with meanings. Until decoded (deciphered), our symbols and gestures are null and void of meaning. Zero communication occurs.*

The Jesus Story deciphers the Creator-Created relationship (which is arguably at the heart of human meaning).

Maybe the life of faith boils down to inhabiting the deconstruction of meaninglessness.

Go into all the world and decipher...

*[The continua of coding/decoding accuracy/inaccuracy would be a tantalizing tangent to explore...]