Broken Glass

The phone rang as I was making dinner.
It was a call from the grocery store chain where I shop each week.
It was an automated call about a product recall.
I have gotten calls like this before but they never pertained to me.

However, this time I heard a name of a product I do use.
In fact it is a product I just started to use a few months ago.
It is a natural, aged Parmesan and Romano cheese that is sold in a jar.
My family was confused when they saw the jar instead of the cheese we usually used.

I had one jar in the refrigerator and two jars in my pantry.
I got out the jars from the pantry as the message continued.
The UPC code was given along with the sell by date.
The recall applied to both of my jars.

I went to the refrigerator and took out the jar that was on the door.
It thankfully did not apply.
I was relieved since we just used it for spaghetti and meatballs recently.
I put the other two jars in a bag to bring back to the store for a full refund.

Even though the opened jar did not apply, I did not want to take any chances.
I emptied the cheese into the trash and went to the garage to throw the jar away in recycling.
I am not an NBA basketball player by any means, but I can usually make a good shot.
Except not this time; the glass jar shattered over the floor of the garage.

Really? You’ve got to be kidding! I said to no one but myself.
I got the broom and the dustpan and went to work to clean up every sliver of glass.
I knew my husband would be home soon and I didn’t want any glass to flatten his tires.
I got the large pieces and proceeded to find the minuscule slivers.

I got an LED flashlight and shone it all around the floor and under my car.
I thought about how many things in our day are not planned.
Those unplanned things still need our time and attention.
Dinner was in the oven but cleaning up glass on the garage floor was not expected.

When my husband left for work the next morning, I saw the garage floor in the daylight.
Here and there were tiny specks of glass.
I set out, yet again, to make sure I got every piece of glass.
I am satisfied that I found most every one.

I went to a Whole Foods market to get a few things.
I was on the aisle that contained essential oils, toothpaste, and other personal items.
A very tall man was looking for something a few feet away from me.
He was talking on his phone, with ear buds in his ears.

As he was having his conversation, he knocked a glass jar off the shelf.
His choice of words allowed anyone within earshot to realize he was frustrated.
He told the person he was speaking to that he just dropped something all over the floor.
He left the aisle, and the glass, and the mess and walked to the front of the store.

I hoped that he was going to tell someone at the register.
However, after breaking a glass jar myself, I didn’t want anyone to get hurt on the broken glass.
I went over to the young man at the counter.
Someone, accidentally broke a glass jar and the glass is all over the floor, I told him.

He walked over to the aisle with me and assured me that he was gong to clean it up.
I had a few things in the basket on my arm.
I walked up to the register.
The tall man was directly in front of me.

He never said anything about the mess on the aisle.
He never told anyone what happened.
He paid for his things and walked out.
I watched him rush away to his car.

It bothered me.

How many times have I heard, clean up in aisle 7, over a loud speaker?
I remember a time or two that the spill or breakage was my fault.
I was not bothered in a sense of self-righteousness indignation.
I was bothered because it was thoughtless and someone else has to clean up the mess.

Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so He went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him at His feet weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and poured perfume on them. When the Pharisee who invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is – that she is a sinner.”  Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” “Tell me teacher,” he said. “Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denari, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.” “You have judged correctly,” Jesus said. Then He turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give Me any water for My feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing My feet. You did not put oil on My head, but she has poured perfume on My feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven – for she has loved much. But he who has been forgiven little, loves little. Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” (Luke 7:36-50)

I thought of the alabaster jar that was broken in order to anoint Jesus.
I thought of the smell of sweet perfume that must have permeated the room.
I thought of the broken pieces all over the floor as the woman poured perfume on His feet.
I thought of the extravagant love the woman had for Jesus.

Then I thought of the point of the story.
The Pharisee could not see the woman because he was focused on her sins.
He loved little because he was forgiven little.
He probably thought, in his self-righteousness, that he was beyond the need of forgiveness.

It was not the broken alabaster jar that came to mind as I drove away.
I thought it would be.
It was the finger pointing that I did in my own heart as I judged the man in the aisle with me.
I have no idea what he was dealing with or what kind of morning he had.

It is not for me to know.
It is for me to extend grace, even in my own heart.
I must love much because I was forgiven much.
Sometimes, I forget that Jesus cleaned up my mess for me.

https://youtu.be/0aHOtPO_lUM