Martha wasn't at all happy in the kitchen that day. Her head in the clouds sister was sitting at Jesus' feet doing nothing important, while she had to slave away at the oven.
It was about time something was said. 'Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her to help me!' (Luke 10: 40).
That should do it; isn't he always telling us it's more blessed to give than to receive?
Oh. He's come down on her side. That's not fair. Aren't all housewives 'worried and distracted by many things?' How would he know?!
That seems a long time ago now. Everything pales into insignificance when someone you love is gone. If only Jesus had got here sooner...he could have healed our brother.
But he's here, at last! 'Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.'
'I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?' (John 11: 25-26).
'Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.'
There are more important things than housework after all.
This passage has always bothered me because I'm more of a martha, than a Mary, (tho' you would never know it looking at the state of our carpets!). But it bothers me even more since a certain female priest I happened across used her 'Mary-ish-ness' as an excuse for an almost total lack of involvement in anything that I would describe as 'work', especially when it came to community stuff, and with the regular meal we have for the homeless. And justified it as though she had chosen the 'right thing'. Mmmm, not sure I've got over that yet...
ReplyDeleteSee what you mean. Maybe there's a time and a place to be one then the other depending on circumstance. When Martha is doing her 'yes Lord I believe' but, notably Mary stays at home!
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