Thought for the day – Wednesday 6 May

Dear All

Have you ever bought something and then afterwards asked yourself ‘why on earth did I buy that’? I imagine that in every household kitchen cupboard, usually under the sink or thereabouts, there will be gadgets for slicing, cutting, and decorating food etc, that we thought would ‘come in handy’. The early versions of the slow cooker, the pressure cooker, sandwich toaster and other such ‘useful’ gadgets can still be found today and are gradually becoming tomorrow’s antiques. My first slow cooker incidentally took about a fortnight to do a casserole and even then the vegetables still had the texture of the ‘metamorphic’ or was it of the igneous variety?

Yes! we have all at one time or another made those impulse purchases and will probably do so again. Keep your eye on that empty space in your cupboard, as there’s a new ‘something you need’ gadget out there waiting to fill it.

Sometimes, we just can’t explain our impulses. Impulse is that feeling that can override reason and good sense and we act in the moment. You know that well known saying, ‘Act in haste and then do it again the next chance you get’. That’s what we do, isn’t it?

Acting in the moment, however, can be a good thing ‘Carpe Diem’. There are opportunities, situations and circumstances that occur only occasionally, sometimes only once in a lifetime, and we feel that we need or want to act now. How many times have you said, ‘If only I’d……….’. It may have been something you wanted to say, or do and didn’t. The song by Mike and the Mechanics, ‘The living years’ is a good example of this thought. Whether you listen to the song or not is up to you. You know for sure the point I’m making anyway.

The woman with the pricey ointment took her chance. Jesus was not going to be around forever and she wanted to do something for him right there and then, and she did. What she did and why we shall never know except to say that Jesus commented about what lay ahead for him afterwards. I don’t think what the women did was over calculated, over considered or necessarily symbolic in her thinking. She just acted, not knowing for certain what people would say. It was just a very lovely thing to do and Jesus appreciated it. That’s why you and I are reading and thinking about it today.

Sure she could have bought and used the Hebrew version of Brut or Hai Karate but she didn’t. The stuff she used was the best that shekels could buy and it caused a ‘stooshie’ (I don’t know the Aramaic translation) with the locals. What a waste! To some, this was indeed a reasonably considered wasteful deed. There would have been lots of cheaper versions available surely, that could have replaced the more expensive. Cheapest is cheap for a reason. The best is expensive for a reason.

What urge or impulse will come our way today, we cannot tell until that moment arrives. If and when it does what will you do? If you overthink it then it won’t be an impulsive deed and might lose its wonder, beauty and precious spontaneity.

Today I ask you to think/meditate on these things.

God bless you!

Jim

JBoag@churchofscotland.org.uk

MARK 14: 3-9

While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”