Thanks, Birgit, for pointing me to the site.
Here's where I've been:



create your own visited countries map

That's right, I still owe you a blog on my trip to Argentina. Anyway, this shows that I've met my goal of visiting all six inhabitable continents!

So here's my travels through these United States as well:



create your own visited states map
- posted by Jor @ 11:06 AM -

 
Mark 14
While he was eating dinner, a woman came up carrying a bottle of very expensive perfume. Opening the bottle, she poured it on his head. Some of the guests became furious among themselves. "That's criminal! A sheer waste! This perfume could have been sold for well over a year's wages and handed out to the poor."
But Jesus said, "Let her alone. Why are you giving her a hard time? She has just done something wonderfully significant for me. You will have the poor with you every day for the rest of your lives. Whenever you feel like it, you can do something for them." (The Message)

The Good
The woman was living in God’s story, not the commonsense of “doing the right thing”. And because she lived in God’s story in that moment of her life, she is now in God’s story for as long as that story is told.

The Bad
Jesus caught the hypocrisy of the indignant guests. They were quick to condemn her action and spend her money on the poor easily enough. He turned it around on them, “Whenever you feel like it you can do something for them.” Mind your own business.

The Ugly
This suggests to me what judging others is all about. “He should have done this. She should have done that.” And since they didn’t, we feel more righteous by being in a story about how they are less righteous.

I think I most often fall into this when I think of people in positions of authority. Judging others is a common pastime at offices where I’ve worked. I’ve judged employees, co-workers, managers, and executives--especially executives. The higher the authority, the more indignant I become. I think that because they get paid more than me, I get to judge them. Boy that sure looks crazy when I write it down and read it. Sounded more plausible half-whispered to myself as I’m indulging in a complaint against the latest “ineptitude” of the CEO.

I wonder about that lady with the perfume. I’ve heard that at that time perfume was a portable way to save up money: one little jar was a year’s wages. She must have been wealthy to even possess that perfume. When a poor widow gave her last two pennies in the offering box Jesus said it was “more than all the rest” who had given bags of gold. The woman with the perfume sacrifices something big for Him, and it’s not how big the offering is that matters—again. I see that for Jesus size doesn’t matter. It’s all about the story a person is in.

If you are in God’s story, acting consistent with His concerns, relating to Him, working with Him, accepting His interpretations and assessments; then you get what you want: His way. If you are in some other story, about being "righteous", about being "pure", about anything else that has more to do with you than Him, then you get what you want: Your way.

+++ Father, my way hasn’t worked very well. Your way has never failed me. Keep me in Your story of love, faithfulness and hope. Forgive me for straying into judging others. Help me to hold no opinion that doesn’t serve a purpose in Your Kingdom.+++
- posted by Jor @ 11:57 AM -