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Mary and Martha

Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things . . .

~ Luke 10:41 ~

You know me, Lord, so well.

I have seen the depressing sinkful of dishes, and heard the laughter from the sitting room

Where the TV is; and I have wondered how I got landed with all this to do. Again . . .

And sometimes, I’ve said so. Vociferously.

And I have done the dishes in a quiet house, and my mind has fled

To some happy or sad thought, but something real, something urgent

That the rhythmic swish of the dishcloth in my hand has set free.

And I have started, as the water from the still-running tap

Spills out of the bowl, or jumped when, in my hand,

The cup runs over.

You know me, Lord, so well.

Sometimes I am Martha, with my worthy agenda and my sense of being taken for granted;

My hectoring sense of all that needs done, that no one is doing, that drives me to ginger up and chivvy along.

The humdrum has to be got through first.

Then comes the good stuff . . .

And sometimes it is given to me to be Mary.

To be grasped by a moment when eternity strikes down into time,

And time must yield.

Then the humdrum is charged with meaning, and not just the meaning of its own flat demands.

For you, Christ, are here. Now.

Help me to grasp your presence. Now.

To ‘Be still, and know that I am God . . .’ Now.

Maybe the dishes can wait . . .

Prayer Activity

Sit quietly, and look at your surroundings. Just stop completely. Marvel at the fact that it’s all there. Accept it as it is. Then, in a way that seems appropriate to you – greet the presence of Christ in this reality.