The other crazy thing about this act is that while giving to the poor honors God and people can look on and honor you too for honoring God and doing this good deed, what Mary did honored God but brought DISHONOR upon herself. Anybody can do the good deed of giving a few dollars to a poor person, but to dishonor oneself and invite the homeless person into your house for dinner to eat your food and stink up your couch is a whole other story!
Mary’s act was a bridge burning act of devotion, because showing her hair, touching a man’s feet though she wasn’t a slave, and ‘wasting’ 10 months wages worth of nard on a man that was not her husband would have destroyed her socially.
She didn’t care and Jesus told them to let her do it.
Of course, she’s used to being at Jesus’ feet and other people telling Jesus to make her go away! But note that Jesus defends her each time, and never tells her to go do some activity instead of being at His feet.
I know there are things that God wants us to do, but there is never ever any substitute for being at His feet. Never ever.