One Thing Only

 Today's Gospel passage from Luke,  on this Tuesday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time,  is the famous story of Martha and Mary.   Many different "takes" on this story have evolved over the centuries, but it often strikes me that Martha takes a beating in many interpretations. It's sometimes assumed that Jesus is telling her that she has made an inferior choice in how to deal with him as a guest -- she's preparing a meal and therefore carrying out the details of hospitality, while her sister Mary is sitting at the Lord's feet, listening to him and enriching her discipleship by imbibing his teachings.  Jesus' comment that Mary has chosen the better part has invited a lot of criticism, however gentle, of Martha.  It's also created comparisons of Christian lifestyles to the detriment of those whose lives are necessarily busy with family obligations,  with work responsibilties, even with Church ministries.

 No doubt writers will be cheerfully arguing about this passage until the Second Coming,  but I'd like to suggest (and this is far from an original thought)   that Jesus was trying to let Martha know that it was fine with him that she was in the kitchen, slicing and dicing and chopping and cooking, as long as she did it in a spirit of peace and generosity.   It didn't matter to Jesus if the meal was a gourmet masterpiece or a deli platter;  the attitude of the one preparing it was the real issue, the "better part."  Martha could just as well been at her own inner shoreline of the spirit,  at one with her work and with the circumstances in which she found herself...welcoming,  not comparing.

It's interesting that in John's Gospel, when Lazarus dies and Jesus comes to the house,  it's Martha, and not Mary, who recognizes Jesus' power over life and death.  While it's always a little dangerous to make these kind of comparisons from one Gospel to another,  I'd like to think that Martha learned to work mindfully and therefore developed the  ability to see beyond the physical realities to the depths within.  Jesus tells her that one thing only is necessary,  but he doesn't fill in the blanks for her or for us.  So...what's the "one thing only"  that's necessary in your life and in mine,  in order to welcome Jesus on a 24-7 basis no matter where we are or what we're doing?   

Comments

  1. AnnetteOctober 8, 2019 at 9:31 AM

    To keep him in your work or no matter what you are doing.. Im guessing..

    ReplyDelete
  2. Shorelines of the SpiritOctober 8, 2019 at 12:26 PM

    Exactly. Even when the work seems to be really ordinary ...

    ReplyDelete

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