Burial Oil For the Living

I read a novelization of Martha's life a couple of years before I chose her as my confirmation saint.  There were a lot of things I liked about the novel (although its inclusion of a romance between her and apostle Andrew was a little strange in retrospect), but one thing I always think about with this reading (the version of it that has Mary, Lazarus's sister, perform the action) is the count practical Martha does of the expensive burial oils in her family.

1. Lazarus's were used when he was buried the first time.
2. Mary used hers on Jesus's feet, in a gesture Martha thinks briefly SHOULD annoy her but seems appropriate and right.

Martha ends up offering hers up (or possibly dropping and spilling them?) to dress Jesus's only temporarily dead body.  That's why she was headed to the tomb on Easter Sunday.  She was going to offer in death what her sister had the foresight to offer during Jesus's lifetime.

A lot of the novelization's tricks of shoehorning Martha into stories she wasn't explicitly involved in felt forced, but that felt just right.  True beyond any facts that might have gotten in the way.  Practical Martha wouldn't have thought of her burial oils until Jesus's death, but once she did, she would marshal them immediately.

It's the Marys of the world who see properly ahead.  Who do objectively crazy things because they feel right and they are open to the inspiration.  Because they aren't afraid of Judases who will spit at their approach.  Because they realize that the dead don't need burial oil (although funerals can be a comfort to the surviving mourners).

They see past all of the embarrassments and mental blocks that stop the rest of us.  It's not that we are opposed to the actions.  It's not that we wouldn't do it if we thought of it.  We're just Marthas.  We think of burial oils as something for recently dead bodies.  Present us with a worthy one of those, and we will bathe the feet (and rest) of Jesus's broken body.

It takes a Mary to see the need when Jesus is still alive.  Marys are the best of us.  They see what is right before the rest of us can.  They see beyond the rules of the world we've set up so consistently that we think they are immutable laws of the universe.

The least we can do is learn how to avoid spitting at them when they do their acts of grace.