Lavender

“He from his lass him lavender hath sent,
Showing her love, and doth requital crave;
Him rosemary his sweetheart, whose intent
Is that he her should in remembrance have.”
Michael Drayton, Pastorals

“Then Mary took a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume;
she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair.
And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.”
John 12:3

Twice now have we been to Door County in Wisconsin’s “Door Peninsula” on Lake Michigan. Nestled five miles from Door’s tip is Washington Island, home of the Midwest’s largest lavender farm and host to the island’s Lavender Festival.

Tranquility most certainly draws tourists to the island, the soothing symbolism of lavender itself. It is a popular oil to help induce sleep and to use in bathing, as indicative of its Latin root lavare, which means “to wash.” Although it is not in the same plant family as spikenard, which is the herb claiming credit in the biblical account of the anointing of Jesus, references to spikenard could be interpreted as spike lavender. Both plants bear similar attributes.

Like Mary Magdalene in the gospels, whose reputation was replete with wrongdoings, lavender is a survivor. It is able to tolerate heat and drought, as well cold and frost. Mary Magdalene certainly had to face heated accusations and icy opinions. Could it be that the lavender-like perfume served as the fragrance to help wash over and cover her in the midst of criticism, softening the memory of her shame that she might learn to live again with His fragrance surrounding her? Jesus spoke to those who accused her, saying “Leave her alone.” Her accusers wouldn’t let her forget her past, but Jesus was helping her find her way to a new present. “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland” (Isaiah 43:19). His love acquits her, and she can begin associating her past with the fragrance of His forgiveness.

Mary’s is not an isolated example. There are those who have had to learn new survival skills as they moved past geographical traumas in the wake of political, ecological, or religious violences. There are those whose lives have been t-boned by tragedy. There is no short-term solution to rebounding from life’s hardships; it presses the pause button on our expectations and cancels out the agenda we had laid out for our lives, uprooting us and leaving us vulnerable and devastated. How do we begin again, when “all that we treasured lies in ruins” (Isaiah 64:11)?

Mary’s example shows us that it begins with weeping at Jesus’ feet and letting the fragrance of His love wash over our desolate wasteland. In the same way, may the demons of our past be cast down as we hear Him say to self-condemnation, “Leave her alone.” May we follow Mary’s example when we find ourselves in the wake of our weeping and trauma, when we find that we need to learn new survival skills and allow the fragrance of His love surround us so that we might learn to live again.

Lavender Sugar Cookies Lavender Icing
2 eggs 1 cup confectioners sugar
½ cup butter ½ tsp lavender extract
1 cup confectioners sugar 2-3 tsp water
1 tsp dried lavender buds
1 ½ cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt

Mix ingredients, roll dough into balls and place on cookie sheet.

Bake at 375° for 10-15 minutes. Allow to cool. Mix icing and spread on cookies, garnishing with a few dried lavender flowers.