A celebrity at her door, unannounced. The Son of God! Hurry, fix extra portions. Quick, set the table. Sweep away the dust and straighten the cushions.
Her sister, seated on the floor. Unaware the electric air cracks and pops with panic.
“Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
“You are worried and upset about many things,” Jesus says to Martha. “But few things are needed.”
My to-do list is pages long. Sometimes I miss the kitchen sink for all the dishes. Medical appointments rob me of the present. Each time the snow melts, petrified dog poop blackens the yard. Accumulated debt for borrowed time, or the gruesome casualty of an overloaded schedule.
Martha, Martha. I understand you.
Jesus, don’t they see? Don’t they see me and all I do?
“You are worried and upset about many things,” Jesus says to me. “But few things are needed.”
I know, I know.
So I re-examine the story of Martha and Mary, a story as cliche as the Proverbs 31 Super Woman.
Martha is a mirror, but this time I look beyond her harried appearance and her preparations. I recognize what Jesus saw before he knocked on the door.
Worry and bitterness.
And I see Mary. Choosing peace.
Life Out Here 