It happens other places as well. There is a story about Mary, a good friend of Jesus, in the gospel of John. Jesus had just called her brother Lazarus out of the tomb. Jesus was about to enter the city of Jerusalem where death awaited him.
But for Mary this was a moment to show her love, act out her devotion, express her sorrow before she even knew for what she was grieving. Having spent an outrageous amount on a costly ointment, she anoints Jesus' feet. In that tiny house, with lots of folks gathered, with the heat of the day, the fragrance filled the room. It was the fragrance of love poured out for the Holy One. It was her gift of anointing before his trial began.
I believe it was a holy moment, a moment we could call 'sacrament.' Mary knew that this Jesus was deeply connected to the Holy One YHWH. She knew he was different from all the others who spoke of God. She reached out and offered a gift of beauty and sacrifice and love. I wonder if Jesus could still catch the scent of that gift of love while he was hanging on that cross. The scent of love poured out just as he was being poured out.
We experience these holy moments if we are watchful and sensitive to God's movement among us. These are moments that transcend time, that transport us to a plane of meaning and life that exceeds all the ordinary. They cause us to pause, to catch our breath, perhaps to break out in a smile, or even to shed some tears. We know that we have witnessed, even been invited into, perhaps even tasted the presence of the Holy in our midst.
This is the place we seek. This is the One we seek. The Holy One fills us and yet there is always room for more.
So we stand before the judgment of God, we confess our brokenness, we seek forgiveness and then, breathing again the deep joy of life in God's presence we turn to these places where the holy and the ordinary intersect.
Sacrament: may our lives become sacrament, a place where the holiness of God intersects with the ebb and flow of life. Amen.
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