Are You Mary or Martha?

In several recent Bible studies the story of Jesus visiting Mary and Martha has come up.  Luke 10:38-42 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”  “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

     As a wife and mother, there is always a daily to do list I need to accomplish.  We've been taught in society that a good wife keeps a perfectly clean home, presents deliciously prepared meals and has well behaved children.  The ideal wife and mother image is almost as unattainable as the ideal supermodel image.  Martha felt it was important to clean and have the meals prepared and was upset that Mary didn't have the same priority.  Mary felt it was more important to spend time with her important guest and she was right.  

     

     Life is so short and the dishes and laundry will continue to pile up whether we enjoy life or not.  I once found out about a special event in my area and called a friend to see if she wanted to go.  She declined, saying it was the first Saturday of the month and she always deep cleaned her living room on that day.  Looking back, I wonder how many other things she missed out on because she had to clean.  My father was a Martha, he always felt that accomplishing a checklist was more important than spending quality time with friends and family.  My mother was a Mary.  We often were washing the previous night's dishes so we could set the table at dinnertime.  She would drop what she was doing to spend time with us and preferred to go with the moment rather than follow a schedule.  Every so often we would have a marathon cleaning day and catch it all up, but she never let it rule her life.  It caused many arguments between my parents.  I used to think that my father was right, but as I watch my kids grow, I realize that he missed so much of our childhood by sticking to a schedule or "to do" list.  

   Somehow we have to find a way to accomplish our tasks and still spend time in fellowship with those we are close too.  A friend once described a dinner party she hosted.  She had invited the new pastor at her church to her home for the first time.  Dinner wasn't quite ready and she had not gotten some things put away and she was rushing around trying to finish cleaning when he and his wife arrived.  He told her to relax and sit down, they came to see her, not judge her home and cleaning skills.  We forget that our friends and family love us and just want to spend time with us and allow distractions to take away the joy of their fellowship.  It's so much easier to have joy in our lives when we remember to take time see the world around us and pause to take it all in.