Friday, 3/31Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’ As someone who is very task driven, this passage is incredibly helpful to me. I can sound and behave a lot like Martha. What I discover in this passage is the call from Jesus to stop, sit at the feet of our Lord, and listen. For some folks I notice that this is easier than others. My guess is that running about and quietly sitting were not equal choices for Mary and Martha to make individually. They were inclined by personality or disposition to one or the other as is the case for most of us. I first learned how to stop and listen in church. It started out on Sundays when I was in college. I went to church and sat toward the back by myself. I closed my eyes and went on retreat for an hour to an hour and a half every week. It was sheer bliss. This got harder after college and I got involved at the same church. So then I needed to go on retreat. At first it was torture. I restlessly read books and waited for meals and worship services to start and for the bookstore to open. After about 24 hours I started to settle down. These days I have learned to find places for retreat in the every day as well as for extended times. Retreats give me more time and space to sit and listen to what Jesus has to say. On a regular day, I get this in attending the Daily Office or a weekday Eucharist. It took me a while to even settle into that. In seminary I had moments when I would decide whether I should spend another 30 minutes one morning preparing for an exam or attend Morning Prayer. These days I wonder if I should catch up on some emails or do a bit of work or attend the Tuesday Eucharist at 10am. And honestly, I cannot tell you of a single occasion when I tended to these little moments of retreat and devotion to listen that led to an ounce of regret. In these moments of prayerful retreat, I always discover that following the example of Mary helps me have a share in the better part of my day that gives me blessed relief from my worries and tasks by laying all that I have on my shoulders at the feet of Jesus, even if just for a few moments. - The Rev’d Jenny Owen Today's |