ALABASTER JAR | KAIROS GLOBAL | MAY 2023

Author: Anil Israel

Intro: It is only when we discover the purpose of our being that we are willing to break the alabaster jars in our life, writes Anil Israel.

What am I here on earth for? What is the purpose of my being? Is there a reason for me to be where I am at this point in time? Such core questions shaping our earthly existence can sometimes become the pursuit of a lifetime. ‘He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how’ (Friedrich Nietzsche). Sooner or later, it becomes essential for us to find a meaning for our journey here on planet Earth. 

Everyone pursues what they perceive would make them happy. ‘Happiness is not a goal… it’s a by-product of a life well lived’ (Eleanor Roosevelt). What therefore ought to be the aim of my life? ‘The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honourable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well’ (Ralph Waldo Emerson). What difference can I make? I can choose to be the change I wish to see in the world. 

The world around us constantly bombards us with distracting voices to go with the flow. Only dead fish go with the flow. The life of a Christian is not to go with the flow, but to row – to swim against the waves of the world. Am I merely existing, being drifted away unwillingly by the tides of time, or have I diverted my focus to consciously cherish the precious gift called life? ‘The unexamined life is not worth living’ (Socrates).

After Pentecost, we see that the apostles lived transformed spirit-led lives. They started making a difference and were referred to as those who have turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6). For life to make sense, we too need to give up the old meaningless way of living and embrace a new purposeful way of life. 

In the Gospels we read about a woman who came to Jesus with an alabaster jar of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the jar and poured it over his head (Mark 14:3). Scripture scholars attribute this pure nard to an aromatic perfume probably imported from India. John’s Gospel reveals that it was Mary of Bethany, who anointed Jesus’ feet with this very expensive perfume and the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment (John 12:3). 

What’s important to realise is not that the jar made of alabaster was expensive, but that its contents were. Alabaster is just a weak mineral composed of calcium carbonate and was used to create delicate works of art. What’s valuable was what was inside the fragile vessel. The ointment of pure nard was reported to be worth three hundred denarii (Mark 14:5). This was nearly an entire year’s income for a labourer, since a single denarius was equivalent to a single day’s wage (Matthew 20:2). 

It takes several years to save an amount equivalent to an entire year’s income. Perhaps the woman collected this extremely expensive imported perfume to be used for her own burial. This can be compared to what one would perceive to be a treasure of a lifetime. Perhaps this is one thing that one tirelessly slogged to accomplish as one’s lifetime goal. Could this be what I have been living for – the purpose of my life? There are many things we have been pursuing, owing to the value we tend to attach to it. What have I been accumulating all my life?

The turning point is letting go of it completely by breaking the alabaster jar. I no longer intend to accumulate as I had been doing my entire life. It is only when we discover the purpose of our being that we are willing to break the alabaster jar which we had till then cherished as extremely precious. What is that expensive perfume – the ointment of pure nard – that I have been painstakingly amassing as the most precious treasure of my life? It could be worldly pursuits of name, fame or fortune. Is that really for what I should be living? Aren’t eternal pursuits more valuable than temporal pursuits? What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? (Mark 8:36)

Pope Benedict XVI teaches us: ‘The world offers you comfort. But you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness. Man was created for greatness – for God himself; he was created to be filled by God’. St Augustine said, ‘You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you’. Truly, we are meant to be partakes of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). Our eternal destination is divine union – to be intimately united with the divine. 

When we realise that we have been created for higher things, then like St Paul we too can consider everything else as rubbish (Philippians 3:8). I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me (Galatians 2:20). With this renewed attitude, we too can be inspired to break our alabaster jar and begin a new life rooted in Christ. Then in union with Christ, we too can say that we choose not to do our own will but the will of him who sent me (John 6:38). The breaking of the alabaster jar, is a sign of renouncing our self-will and embracing God’s holy will. 

May the mingling of a drop of water into the chalice of wine, remind us to let go of our fragile humanity and embrace His all-encompassing divinity. May the desire of a life of sublime oneness with the divine will, be our sole pursuit in life. This is a joint venture of human-divine partnership. It is the teamwork of a leap of faith from my side cooperating with His inexhaustible grace. Grace is always at my disposal. Am I willing to exercise my will to align with His Will? Am I willing to be dedicated to the Lord (Exodus 28:36)? ‘If I really want to improve my situation, I can work on the one thing over which I have control – myself’ (Stephen Covey).