The Problem With Martha

I've always been somewhat miffed by the gospel story of Martha and Mary. They have a houseful of guests and Mary isn't being any help at all. When Martha asks Jesus to tell Mary to help her, Jesus takes the burdens of hospitality very lightly and chides her: "Mary, He says, "has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her."

Tonight, however, I realized something. One can be hospitable without being loving and if that's the case, then one has served food, but not changed the world. I was impatient with one of the guests at my home tonight and complained to some people present - including her - and it didn't make for the best night for either of us.

St. Paul maintains that everything should be done with love. He tells us in 1Corinthians that even if he gave away all his possessions to the poor, if he didn't do it lovingly, it would not profit him at all. My impatience affected the amount of love that was in my home tonight and maybe that was what Jesus was telling Martha: Mary was making her guest feel loved and all Martha was doing was filling his stomach. It was her attitude, not her chores, that was the real issue.

The business of each of us is to create a bow wave of loving kindness that will tilt the world away from judgment and towards acceptance. This was Mary's "better part" and what Martha had to learn when Jesus came to her house. It's what I had to learn to learn tonight, as well.