Holy Week Porch Stories

As a child, I loved sitting on porches listening in as the grownups told stories and talked about family and friends. If you were quiet, you could hear some really good tales that normally were not considered appropriate for children’s ears. The problem was sometimes the stories were different depending on whose porch you were sitting and who was telling the tale.
When Grandma told the story of Granddaddy leaving home during World War I, it was a different story than the one told by my great-uncle and great aunt. The basics were the same... he left home... but the details were worlds apart. Stories my daddy told me about his growing up were not the same stories my Uncle Harold told me years later. And at the beach when our family sits around telling growing up stories, the children’s memories are not the same as ours even if we are remembering the same story. I am reading the stories of Holy Week in all four gospels at the same time. Like all good family stories, the details differ depending upon who is telling the story.
Matthew and Mark have Jesus’ last social occasion at Simon the Leper’s house. Luke doesn’t mention it but John says he ate with Mary, Martha and Lazarus. According to John’s story, it was Mary who poured the expensive ointment over his feet and wiped them with her hair. When Judas spoke up complaining about the wasted resources, Jesus speaks plainly about his impending death. "Let her alone. Let her keep it for the day of my burial. The poor will always be with you and you will be able to minister to them but you will not always have me." The Bethany family were special to Jesus and I can imagine the great love she had for him. It makes sense to me that Mary would have honored her beloved teacher this way. It must have been a scandal, a porch tale worth telling, since it has survived the centuries and ended up in the canon.
What would I do, what scandalous behavior am I willing to offer up this Holy Week out of love for Jesus? Mopping up muddy floors after the Easter Egg Hunt is a small scandal but not the overflowing outrageous overflow of love and grief that Mary modeled for us. Somewhere in this week to come, I will bathe Jesus feet to honor Sister Mary who showed us the way. May it be so, Lord Jesus.