Jesus Details

Many of you who know me realize that the words "meditation" and "Susie" don't normally go together.  I don't think it's a lack of intelligence on my part; I think it might be a lack of the resting gene.  You see, my mom has no resting gene.  My dad says that somewhere she has a little button to turn her off, but for the life of him, he can't find it! :)  So, my Martha-ness comes very naturally.  It's a bit odd, though, because my first name is really Mary....
So, here's the story. Part of what we are learning here is scripture meditation.  Quite the scary sounding phrase for me when we first arrived.  Yikes! I thought.  Meditate on scripture?!  How long is THAT going to take?  Can I eat when I'm doing it?  Can I sleep when I'm doing it?  Can I do it with a friend?!  Well, whatever my fears, no one cared.  We keep a very well thought out, prescribed journal for our class and two of the pages are for scripture meditation...two very large, very blank pages, just staring at me.  My first attempts at this "discipline" felt like...well...they felt like Discipline.  It was pretty foreign to me to sit down and read a verse slowly and deliberately--out loud--and then to "write out my understandings or impressions of the verse."  Needless to say, they were...ummm....not lengthy.  Some might even call them short.
But here's where it gets good!  Today I meditated on John 12:1-8, "Jesus anointed at Bethany" my Bible calls it.  I read it out loud, slowly and thoughtfully.  I asked the Lord for understanding and some insights.  He's such a sweet teacher, isn't He?  He was probably thinking, "Well, here's Susie again, trying to figure this meditation thing out.  She's trying so hard to rest (smile).  I think I'll blow her mind and see what happens!"  
  Here's what I think the Lord wanted me to know for today.  Here's what I think He wants all of us to know for forever.
The story centers around Mary anointing Jesus with her pint of nard (ooo-la-la, sounds French) which is very pure, expensive perfume.  I know. You're wondering what Mary is doing with expensive perfume...me too!  Anyway, she anoints him and the whole house is filled with the fragrance...the whole house!  Can you smell it?  I get this kind of picture/story thing going on in my head now:
"Martha! Can I borrow some of your perfume for the dinner party for Jesus tonight?  I'm tired of smelling like dust."
"Sheesh, Mary," Martha says, "You have your own!  Use that for goodness sake!  You've been keeping it for a long time.  What's the deal?"
"I don't know, Martha.  I just can't seem to open it up and use it.  Every time I want to, something seems to stop me.  It's kinda weird!"
Stay with me here for just a few more minutes.  Verse seven says, "Leave her alone," Jesus replied, "It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial."  Did you catch it?  The word "intended?"  Jesus had a great plan in place all the way down to the bottle of perfume!  A seemingly small detail that was really a huge part of this story of his, of Mary's, of ours.  Here's where my thoughts went.  If Jesus is thinking and planning and putting small details into place like perfume, what is he doing in MY life?  In YOUR life?  In the BIG picture of the world?  What details has he been putting in place for you?  Do you notice them?  Did Mary notice after that night when she had no more perfume, when she was cleaning up after the party and the house still smelled lusciously sweet?
Today, just for today, look, listen, smell...What are the Jesus details in your life?  I know I'm going to look for them a bit more today.  I'm going to look for the small parts in my day that are Jesus Details.  When I see them, smell them, bump into them, do you know what I'm going to do?  I'm going to say, "Thank you, Jesus!  Thanks for loving me so much!"
I picture him saying, "You are very welcome, Susie.  Keep looking. There's a lifetime more."