A Martha Mentality

If you've grown up in the Church like I have, I'm sure you've heard the story of Martha and Mary. You know the one: Martha running around like a chicken with her head cut off trying to prepare the house, while her sister, Mary, sits quietly at Jesus' feet.

As much as I'd like to tell myself that, had I been there, I would have been plopped down next to Mary, listening rapturously to Jesus, somehow I don't think this is the case. You see, I am one of those crazy individuals who feels lost without a to-do list, will not only plan every second of my own life but every second of yours, who lives to be over-prepared for anything and everything, and who will steal your papers, books, etc. to try to color code them. You get the picture: I'm one of those Martha-at-hearts.

I think there are two tendancies for those of us with Martha Metnatlities:

1. Judging the Marys of the world. "But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to Him [Jesus] and asked, 'Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!'"  (Luke 10:40). I have often been in Martha's position, feeling like I have to control the situation: "If I don't do this, no one else will! But it'd sure be nice if someone would help me!" Or "They are so disorganized! If I were in their position..." This leads to:

2. Forgetting people are more important than stuff....and people don't fit on a to-do list. "'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...'" (Luke 10:42). It's easy to get too hooked to your to-do list and not spend enough time on what's really important: listening to others, loving them, serving them. In judging the Marys of the world, sometimes we forget that they are spending time on far more important things than organizing and list-writing. I'm not at all saying those things are bad, but sometimes we need to take a break from our to-do list, look around, and say, "Have I been so consumed with my own agenda that I've forgotten to love others?" We need to get our priorities straight.

There's someone in all of our lives who needs to see we'll take the time away from our busy schedules to care about them or listen to them. How can you be a Mary today?