![]() ![]() But clearly Jesus had a completely different view of the situation, not only welcoming the gift but stating that this was a part of His process as He set His face towards the cross. Mary was attacked by an angry Judas because what she was doing would not benefit HIM. And in this midst of this tender exchange between an eternally grateful woman and her Savior, what do we find? Stomping all this tenderness under his judgmental feet is an angry critic (Judas) who failed to see the beauty of what was being attempted and instead only saw a waste of resources and a missed opportunity for profit. And based on the reaction to this particular ointment, this was also an offering that she gave at a SUBSTANTIAL cost to herself. Mary was exceptionally vulnerable in this moment, approaching Jesus in front of everyone in this humble and subservient manner. But Jesus said, “Let her alone she has kept this for the day of My burial. For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.” But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box and he used to take what was put in it. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. ![]() ![]() Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. There they made Him a supper and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. John 12:1-8 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. During His visit Mary, Lazarus’s sister, interrupted the proceedings to perform a sweet, loving act of generosity on the One who was about to endure a lifetime’s worth of pain in just a few short days… and sadly even this act was criticized by one of those who observed it. The final days of Christ found Him at the house of Lazarus, who He had previously raised from the dead. Why? Because a MASSIVE influx of dissatisfied gamers gave it a score of 0 or 1, lambasting the choices by the developers to have an incredibly challenging difficulty level, limited saving options, or simply because they COULD. Then we have Returnal… a score of 86 from the pros… and a score of a meager 6.8 as of the time of this writing. Again, the margin between the two is very slim, validating that the professional and personal reviews are within a normal threshold. Very similar scores, right? Super Mario 3D World also scored a 89 from the professionals, and a 8.5 from the users. For example… the recent release of “It Takes Two” was very well-received, with a professional metascore of 89 out of 100 and a user score of 8.4 out of 10. So when a game receives a dramatically different score from the “professional critics” than from the gaming public, this is a pretty big indicator that something foul is afoot. How can we tell if a game is being “review bombed” by the public versus simply being a poor game? Metacritic provides two different metrics… an average collection of review scores by reputable industry professionals, and a second score averaging the reviews from the common everyday gamer such as you and I. Okay, enough of that… let’s get back to this game. I mean, think about it… why is a bed of roses even a unit of measurement for the purposes of happiness? Have you ever tried to LAY on a bed of roses? They are covered in thorns, the top of the flower is soft and breakable, the stem is hard but not sturdy enough to support weight… for real, who would intentionally make a bed out of these? Who is even coming UP with these analogies? Who wants to lay in a pile of thorny flower mush? I can guarantee you this… since today is Mother’s Day, go ahead and instead of giving Mom flowers, replace her mattress and box spring with a few cases of flowers. ACTUALLY though… now that I think about it maybe it HAS. ![]() The months since launch have not been overly kind to the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X… between the limitations on just FINDING these consoles for purchase to the complete lack of post-launch support in terms of new, high-quality games that give a purpose to the power of these systems, life has not exactly been a bed of roses for them. ![]()
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