{"id":1160,"date":"2019-02-13T13:30:24","date_gmt":"2019-02-13T18:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/read.whitefire-publishing.com\/?p=1160"},"modified":"2019-10-22T09:47:27","modified_gmt":"2019-10-22T13:47:27","slug":"broken-the-woman-who-anointed-jesuss-feet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whitefire-publishing.com\/read\/broken-the-woman-who-anointed-jesuss-feet\/","title":{"rendered":"Broken The Woman Who Anointed Jesus\u2019s Feet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>
\n

Broken The Woman Who Anointed Jesus\u2019s Feet<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

by Golden Keyes Parsons<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tirzah follows Jesus along outskirts of the crowd. She watches him raise the son of the widow of Nain from the dead. That day as he glanced her way, her spirit pleads with him to free her of the demons in her life. She feels them leave. She is free. Tirzah hears of a banquet to be held for Jesus at the house of a Pharisee named Simon. She hurries to her house and searches through her belongings\u2014gifts given to her by her customers. She finds what she is looking for and goes to Simon\u2019s house. What transpires that day has been remembered down through history as a supreme act of love.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t

Chapter 1<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Tirzah plucked a delicate fuchsia\nbougainvillea blossom from the burgeoning vine covering the wall beside the\nsynagogue and threaded it into her hair. A woman to her right frowned and\nturned aside. Eyes. Eyes that recognized but turned away.  Inquisitive eyes. Eyes darkened with\njudgment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tirzah ignored the rebuff and put a\nslender hand to her forehead to shield her eyes from the piercing rays of the\nmidday sun.  Jesus exited the synagogue\nsurrounded by a cluster of learned men, the tzitzit\n<\/em>on the corners of their blue and white prayer shawls swinging as they\nbobbed back and forth, whispering among themselves. People cleared a swath\naround Tirzah. It doesn\u2019t matter\u2014simply\noffers me a better view.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Women drew their children to their\nsides. Sneering lips and snubs didn\u2019t faze her anymore. She had long ago calloused\nherself against them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Word had spread through Capernaum\nthat Jesus would be in the community this week. Curious, Tirzah managed to be\nacross the street in front of the synagogue at the time she calculated the\nteaching would be finished. It had lasted longer than she\u2019d anticipated, but\nstill she lingered. She wanted to see what the hubbub was about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His appearance did not match the\nrather spectacular rumors swirling around him of limbs healed, blind eyes\nopened, and multitudes miraculously fed. The man was of average height, dark\nhaired\u2014what she could see peeking out from his prayer shawl\u2014and had a dark\nbeard. She expected someone with a more imposing presence\u2014someone tall with\nbroad shoulders and a booming voice. He did look strong and robust, but his\nvoice was mellow and soft. She would not have noticed him in a crowd.  His most arresting features were his eyes. When\nhe smiled, they crinkled in an engaging manner. Was it amusement? No, it was\nmore like kindness or forbearance, graciousness perhaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simon, a Pharisee whom she knew well,\nquestioned the teacher as the men paused outside the entrance of the synagogue.\nHe gestured with his hands in short choppy movements which he was prone to do\nwhen agitated. Leave it to Simon to make his opinion known. <\/em>She couldn\u2019t hear what it was that had upset him, but he\nobviously was disturbed. He turned from side to side, nodding to his colleagues\nas if by doing so he would garner their agreement. Some nodded. Some stroked\ntheir beards. Some simply stood quietly by and observed. Simon glanced at her\nbut turned his eyes away quickly. She knew he saw her, but he gave no sign of\nrecognition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus answered a few questions from\nthe men gathered around him, then turned to leave. As he glanced across the\nnarrow street in Tirzah\u2019s direction, he caught her eye and held her gaze,\nsmiling at her. A spark of recognition passed between them, but how could that\nbe? She\u2019d never seen him before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

~*~<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later that evening Tirzah answered\nthe familiar rap. She slid the latch aside and opened the door, smiling as\nSimon stepped inside. He came to Tirzah\u2019s house on the same night every week,\nhung his cloak on the same peg beside the door, and sat at her table in the\nsame chair. She had already poured his glass of wine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this evening Simon produced a\nbundle wrapped in a beautiful scarf of variegated colors\u2014blues, magentas, and\npurples. He seemed almost giddy, chuckling as he gently set it on the wooden\ntable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat is this?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s for you.\u201d He gestured with his\nhand. \u201cOpen it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She sat beside him and fingered the\nscarf without lifting the package. \u201cThis is beautiful in itself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simon touched the dimple in her\ncheek. \u201cNot as beautiful as you.\u201d He motioned toward the parcel again. \u201cGo on.\nOpen it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She lifted and almost dropped it as\nthe weight shifted in her hand. \u201cOops. It\u2019s heavy.\u201d Tirzah unwound the scarf to\nreveal a white alabaster container. \u201cOh. How lovely.\u201d She held it up to the\nflame of the candle. The alabaster ewer seemed translucent as she turned it\naround in her hand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt holds very expensive\nointment\u2014however, not to be used to perfume your most desirable body.\u201d His gaze\nswept from the top of her head to her feet, his eyes beckoning her toward him.\n\u201cIt is an investment for you, or to be used for burial spices.\u201d He scratched\nhis beard and shrugged his shoulder. \u201cNot that you would need it anytime soon,\nbut I worry about you. You have no one\u2026no one to look after you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tirzah set the container down and\nteased Simon, chucking him underneath his chin, then sitting in his lap. She\ntook his face in her hands and nuzzled his beard. The cinnamon fragrance of the\ncassia oil that he used on his skin filled her nostrils. \u201cI thought you said\nyou would look after me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He cleared his throat, reached for\nthe wine goblet and swirled the red liquid around in the cup while balancing\nTirzah on his knee. \u201cThat I intend to do, but if something happens to me, then\nwhat?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have Claudia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lot of good that cripple is to\nyou.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHush! She\u2019ll hear you. She\u2019s loved\nme and been more loyal to me than anyone else in my life, except my mother.\u201d\nShe rose and rewrapped the container in the scarf. \u201cOh, well, no need to bother\nabout me. I\u2019m simply a toy to you\u2014something that you play with when you are in\nthe mood and then put away when you go home to your wife.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He grabbed for her arm. \u201cYou know you\nmean more to me than that. Haven\u2019t I been good to you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She spun away from him and set the\npackage on a shelf above the table. \u201cWhat did you think about the rabbi who\ntaught in the synagogue today? The miracle maker. He\u2019s causing quite a stir.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simon raised his cup and took a\nswallow. \u201cI saw you. Why do you subject yourself to the sneers and comments?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was curious. And I have just as\nmuch right to be on the street as anybody else.\u201d She set a bowl of fruit and\ncheese on the wooden table. A ripe pomegranate tumbled out of the bowl, and\nSimon caught it as it rolled toward the edge of the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo what do you think about him?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHumph. What do I\nthink about him?\u201d Simon dug a nail into the skin of the fruit and tore it open.\n\u201cJust a teacher. A good teacher, but just a teacher.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople say he performs miracles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cExaggerations. Coincidences. I\u2019ve\nnever seen one, have you?\u201d He grinned and, setting the pomegranate aside,\npulled her down to his lap again. \u201cI think I shall have a closer look at the\nman soon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d Tirzah twirled a\nlock of his hair around her finger, and kissed the lobe of his ear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPerhaps an invitation to dinner\nwould be in order\u2014in a few days.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tirzah stared at Simon. In spite of\nthe fact that he was older, he was still a handsome man. His dark hair sported\nvery little gray, just around the temples. Gray eyes still flashed with\namusement and alertness, not the bleary, watery eyes of many older men. And he\nwas still strong and walked with a spring in his step. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trailing her fingers over his chest,\nshe snuggled into his embrace. She preferred older men. They were not always in\nsuch a hurry, and she somehow felt more secure with them\u2026safe. Not that any of\nthem would admit to their families or in public that they even knew who she\nwas. Even Simon wouldn\u2019t acknowledge her in public. But he was kind to her, so\nshe agreed to give him a regular night. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tirzah heard Claudia\u2019s halting gait\non the outside stairs going up to her quarters. Loyal Claudia. Tirzah was\ngrateful for her friend, but she missed her mother. She thought of her often,\nalthough her childhood memories were not pleasant. The life Rhoda had provided\nfor Tirzah was sometimes scary\u2014dangerous even.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She got out the flask of wine she\nkept for Simon, but her mind drifted far away.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\n