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Martha and Mary

"But Martha was distracted by all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, 'Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.' But the Lord answered and said to her, 'Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things' but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.' Lk. 10.40-42

Interpretation- Jesus is lovingly directing Martha away from her distracted way of life, and is guiding her to focus on the 'one thing' that is necessary (exemplified in Mary's way of being). Martha can easily be seen as a prototypical 'every-person', in today's post-modern world of information. In this world people are fantasy images of their true nature...they're 'thought people', lost in their own shadowy fantasy worlds. Post-modern people believe they control their lives (think about what guides your daily life), and determine from 'what they do', their identity and value. In the Christian tradition this is a life dominated by 'works'.

Martha is clearly troubled in her image of herself (how she feels about who she is and what she needs to do), and is missing life in God's kingdom. Jesus' teaching directs her to Mary, who was 'seated at the Lords feet, listening to His word.' We only have a fragmented image of who Mary is, but she's obviously attentive to Jesus' wisdom teachings, and isn't troubled by 'works'.

Matthew

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