If the drive-thu line is too long, some customers come in the store confessing to each other how busy they are, how exhausted they are, and how much they intend packing into the day before they have to do it all over again tomorrow.
Thomas Kelly, in A Testament of Devotion, observed of this generation with its Blue Tooth technology, PDA's, and Instant Messaging, . . .
"Many of the things we are doing seem so important to us. We haven't been able to say No to them, because they seem so important. But if we center down, as the old phrase goes, and live in that holy Silence which is deeper than life, and take our life program into the silent places of the heart, with complete openness, ready to do, ready to renounce according to His (Christ's) leading, then many of the things we are doing lose their vitality for us."As a fellow obsessive-compulsive activity addict, Kelly's words bring a ring of terror. For more than 50 years I've derived my sense of self-esteem from what I have accomplished or am striving to excel in.
This is why I have long misunderstood the story of "Busy Martha and Lazy Mary" in the Bible. Jesus' biographer Luke tells of domestic conflict when Jesus and the boys dropped in, unannounced for supper. Martha, Mary and their bro Lazarus were good friends with the young Rabbi, but there is a hint of long-held resentment between sisters.
While I have no proof of this, I suspect Martha was the oldest sister. Having grown up the oldest of six children, I frequently experienced resentment of my younger siblings. Much of the daily responsibilities in our household fell to the older children while the younger ones "slacked off."
We read in Luke 10, after Martha welcomed the unexpected guests and made them feel at home, she headed to the kitchen. Fully expecting her sister to take up the slack in feeding the additional thirteen hungry men, she looks into the family room to find Mary lounging at the feet of Jesus. Martha begins a slow burn as expectation turns to disappointment to irritation to tears. All the pots are boiling, meat is about done, at least Mary could get the good china and set the table!
Rather than confronting her sister directly, Martha vents her frustration on the guest of honor. If Jesus is the friend he claims to be, he should know how hard she is working with NO HELP! . . . Mary has burn-out. "Don't you care that Mary has abandoned the kitchen to me? Tell her to lend me a hand."
Been there, done this. "Now, God. Don't You know I dedicated my life to You. You gave me this minister/job/opportunity. I've been doing my best but I feel so alone. Can't You fix it so it's not so hard."
Jesus' response has long confused me. He seems to be minimizing what Martha was doing FOR HIM and the disciples. . . "Martha, dear Martha," he gently rebukes, "you're fussing too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing." He then reminds her the reason for his interruption of her daily schedule was not to have her fix them a meal. In fact, HE was providing the meal . . . The meal from his heart. For Jesus it was his intention to share His heart in the time he had left before his betrayal and execution.For we Marthas of Christianity, . . activity driven people who find validation in our faith by being the "doers of the Word and not hearers only," . . . perhaps this is why interruptions come into our lives. It can be the death of a friend or family member. Maybe an vocational change. What about serious personal illness or life threatening accident? What would it take to get you "out of the kitchen" and at the feet of Jesus?
"That choice to get busy or to sit still, to work in the kitchen or to wait at Christ's feet, is essentially a decision to whether or not to submit the details of our life to His lordship. If we decide to submit them, it simplifies our life because it puts us accountable to one master instead of to a pantheon of competing ones. ~ Ken Gire, Seeing What is Sacred
I'm equally convinced there are times we will never be given the reason for divine interruption of our agenda. We may complain to One we are trying to serve, receive a rebuke, and be told to "sit at My feet" for an indeterminate time. It will only be when we pass from this life to the next we will see how God was wanting to be flesh and bone to the world in which we lived.
"Perhaps that explains, at least partially, why bad things sometimes happen to good people.
For the sake of those around them.
That they might come to Christ.
That Christ might come to them, to live in them.
So that once again a Savior came be born into the world."~ Ken Gire, Seeing What is Sacred
