"She stood behind [Jesus] at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his
feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing
his feet and anointing them with the ointment."
For generations, women have carried out everyday tasks with
tears of both sadness and joy falling silently down their cheeks. In the early
morning, a young mother's infant sleeps at her breast; in the evening, the young
mother joins other women from her village to prepare the body of a matriarch for
burial. The tears of another woman are a mixture of many emotions as she visits
her father in the Alzheimer's patient care center. A woman washing dishes at the
kitchen sink weeps for the sheer beauty of the setting sun splashing reds and
golds on the quiet pond outside her window.
As her tears mixed with the road dust on Jesus' feet, a woman
performed an ordinary task of good manners in her time and culture in an
extraordinary way. Her tears may have come from sorrow for her past or from
relief in forgiveness found. Perhaps both. Whatever the source of her emotions
at that moment, her ministry to Jesus secured her place in history. While she
was finding peace, she was also giving to generations of women after her a story
to treasure.
Offering Prayer: God of the eons, you bless women in
every age with tasks great and small. Give us grace to see your purpose in all
that we do. Amen.
Offering Focus: Your offerings support Women of the
ELCA's ecumenical partnerships and ministries, celebrating Women's History Month
and World Day of Prayer, and Justice for Women activities.
Written by Susan K. Wendorf (deceased) for Women of the
ELCA.
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) Bible,
copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education
of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, and are used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright ©
1996 Women of the ELCA. All rights reserved.
May be reproduced for use in congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America provided the copyright information above appears on every copy with
these words: Used with permission.
For all other purposes
contact Women of the ELCA.