Jar Of Alabaster, Jar Of Redemption

* Jesus pray for me
* Luke pray for me
* Mary Magdalene pray for me
* dedicated to Jennifer Knapp, Remedy

+-----Jar Of Alabaster, Jar Of Redemption; The Thoughts Of Mary Magdalene At Jesus' Feet

They say God helps
those who help themselves.
But what if your self sacrilege
desecrates all of you,
all self awareness,
self dignity and self respect you
had, at one point, to give…
womanhood scorned.
What if one morning, head
on the bare chest of another’s
husband, you had this
epiphanic sense of moral revulsion.
And you started hearing crescendos
of hushed disembodied feminine riffs, in
melodies of a wedding song, intensifying
to earsplitting pitch of demons
wailing for love of frenzy:
“YOU WHORE YOU WHORE
YOU WHORE” and “GO TO GEHENNA”
your rightful abode, home of all hookers
who fornicate and sever 60 plus marital
bonds. Isnt a shot at heaven worth
all your life’s savings in an alabaster
perfume jar, smeared mascara,
ruination of the prepped hair you once
used to lure male victims. A teary eye
for a seductive eye, a mourner’s tooth
for a toothy flirtatious smile?
Wouldn’t you fling yourself helplessly,
shamelessly on the floor and kiss
the feet of Someone who could give you
your life back, to be human again,
a little girl reborn with no trace of scars?

-----Luke 7:36-50
When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 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 had 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 people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.” “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—as her great love has shown. But whoever 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.”

---Remedy Lyrics

in my blood the sun of a Kansas sky
turn the Flint Hills gold
and burn them dry
o, the roads i had to take
to make good my escape

Tornado Alley, don't i know
you well i shoulda known better
than to build my house in hell
o, the bones i had to break
to make my home in such a place

i think i need a doctor
with a shot to cure me
whisky or a bullet,please
a shot to be my remedy

you've be around my
neck so burdensome
you say i've changed
you rue what i've become
o, the bones i had to break
to fit into your perfect space

i think i need a doctor
with a shot to cure me
whiskey or a bullet, please
a shot to be my remedy

vanity: you've been hard to track
i waste my youth on you and i want
it back
o, the bones i've yet to break
i'm growing old
i need a home
i need a cure to stop this pain

i think i need a doctor
with a shot to cure me
whiskey or a bullet please
a shot to be my remedy