Martha and Mary

In the past I looked at Martha as busy and distracted and Mary as peaceful and in-tune. Today I see them both in a different way. I see Martha as hospitable so she practices doing for Christ and Mary as contemplative so she practices being with Christ.

Honestly, there is nothing wrong with either stance. Certainly we all can benefit from being both Martha and Mary. Perhaps that is the ebb and flow of Christian Spirituality. I don’t think Jesus was rebuking Martha because she wasn’t being like Mary. Could it be was he simply addressing the indignation she had toward her sisters stance in being with him.

If we are not mindful, we will take on that same indignation when we aren’t comfortable in our own posture toward Christ. We can’t always do for Christ without being with Him and we can’t always be with Him without doing for Him. Out of BEING with Christ we will BECOME like Christ, which should then flow to DOING for Christ.

So many of us enter this Christian Spirituality by DOING for Christ and we end up feeling like Christ’s burden is heavier than the Scriptures tell us (easy and light). We adopt the term ‘burnout’ and lose our zeal for our first love. The zeal that drew us toward Christ in the beginning of our awareness of Him.

This morning, as I sat in Centering Prayer, I was Martha. I wasn’t physically DOING anything but my mind was. I postured myself to BE with Him and in my mind I was everywhere but with Him. I imagine God holding me in that space smiling and saying “Marie, you are distracted about many things, you positioned yourself to BE with me so quit DOING. Rest, take my yoke, BE with me. It’s easy.” This didn’t sound like a command but an invitation.

Oh Lord, how I love that you know my every thought. Oh how I love your gentleness and your sense of humor. Oh how I love to BE with you even when chaos is overwhelming my inward being. You bring a peace to me like no other. You love me like no other.

Be with me, O Lord, my Love.