Have You Ever...

Have you ever been so overwhelmed you thought you would drown? I have.

We live in a society of extreme pace, increasing disconnection and I'd suggest all the consequential "stuff" that comes with intensifying disconnection:  random or intentional violence, fractured families, unjust business practices, and more. 

Mary and Martha speak to this reality in the Bible.  There's a constant tension between the demands of the day and the daily need for a peace of mind.  

It is easy to get focused on everything that needs done in life.  Work. Parent Taxis. The Poor (who Jesus said would always be with us).  Fighting Injustice.  Volunteering at Church.  Trouble is when we live from one thing to the next people become objects more than human beings.

We see this most commonly and unfortunately as we begin referring to issues rather than people.  Martha's issue was hospitality.  Mary should have been helping.  It was a core first century value and nobody would fault her for issuing the plea for Jesus to set Mary straight!

Mary, on the other hand, was being hospitable in another way.  It's easier to offer what we have then to hospitably offer our lives to another.  Mary was offering her life to The One she knew gave life to everyone he encountered.  Jesus said, Mary had chosen the better part, in fact, the one thing necessary.  It was in spending time with Jesus that Mary knew a greater sense of the sacred nature of her own humanity and others.

We are all on a journey of learning to treat people as human beings instead of objectifying them.  Let us have compassion with ourselves and others, as we face a pace of life erodes our memory of how precious we are (c.f.  James 1:24) and so others.

As with Mary, may we slowly sit down at the feet of Jesus, hospitably offer him our lives, and begin to feel his gaze reminding us of the sacred nature of everybody's lives.  

Maybe this song will help you slow down and know a good God...