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.”
I have always struggled with this, perhaps because I’m such a Martha! The accompanying reflection is from the Cloud of Unknowing, clearly written by a Mary. The author offers an interesting take on this dichotomy. S/he writes that there are two kinds of lives in the church, the active and the contemplative. There are two kinds of each type, higher and lower. The author suggests that neither can fully lived without some of the other. A contemplative needs some activity, and active types need some contemplation in order to live fully. The author continues with suggesting that the lower level contemplative is the same as the higher level active person, each with a healthy dose of their non-dominant trait. This all makes sense to me, and it supports my understanding of Jesus’ words to Mary and Martha.
Mary clearly is the contemplative, sitting at Jesus’ feet listening to him. Martha is making preparations, clearly the active. I’d like to believe that Jesus is not chastising Martha for her active choices, or suggesting that Mary’s contemplative nature is better, although on quick read, that’s clearly what it could mean. Rather, I’d like to believe the key to this whole passage is the first part of what Jesus says. “You are worried and distracted by many things”.
Martha is active, but she’s lost her way in the ability to be active with a contemplative spirit. Instead, she worries about the tasks themselves. To be clear, I have not mastered this notion of all actions being opportunities to worship and pray, but occasionally I have glimpses of how it works.
I’m currently refinishing a built-in cabinet in the kitchen. It was covered with at least three colors of paint, and a faux grain stain. It took multiple applications of stripping solvent, and multiple pads of sand paper on my new fancy sander (thanks Kristina) to get it back to bare wood. I’ve easily spent 40+ hours on the four cabinet doors and two drawers. Now I’m applying a new stain and topcoat. Next I’ll attach new hinges and hardware and put the whole thing back together.
It is definitely active time, but it’s also oddly contemplative. While I’m running the sander back and forth, my mind empties. I don’t frequently actively pray, but I do get a sense that I’m more in union with God. When I don’t know what to say, the Spirit prays within me. I get the same sense when I prepare a good dinner, or if I take a leisurely walk. Action, with some contemplation thrown in.
I think the problem with Martha is that she started focusing on the tasks themselves, and worried about the productivity. Sometimes I knit, and I’m most content knitting when I stop worrying about the end product and instead enjoy the journey. That means sometimes I end up with a sweater with arms of two different lengths (true story), but I’ve definitely enjoyed its production much more.
Action isn’t the problem and isn’t inherently less than contemplation. It can be when it becomes what we worry about, like Martha fretting about housecleaning. I’m reminded of Brother Lawrence, an 17th century monk. In his book, The Practice of the Presence of God, he describes how his menial work in the kitchen became a great opportunity to be in God’s presence. He suggests that all labor is worthy and important to God; the laborer is as valuable to God as the priest.
Martha needed to remain focused on God, rather than fretting about many things. It is definitely through activity that I find a contemplative quiet. This morning, I’m thinking about ways to increase the likelihood of finding that contemplative quiet during my many activities, instead of fretting about many things.
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