Martha and Mary: When Life Gets Too Busy

The last two weeks have been absolutely crazy — full of non-stop activity, gatherings at friends houses, and preparations for our own gathering this weekend.

Sometimes life can get so busy — too busy, really — and you find that in the midst of it all, you are slowly beginning to lose yourself in the process.

Losing yourself isn’t necessarily a bad thing. After all, Jesus made it clear that Christians need to die to themselves to bear fruit that will last.

No doubt, there is a dying to oneself that actually leads to regeneration and renewal — it is this dying to one’s ego and selfishness that also leads to freedom and joy and fruitful activity.

But there is a different kind of dying that can take place in the midst of too much activity. It is a dying of the soul — or at the very least, a weakening of it.

This kind of dying occurs when we lose sight of the things that really matter in life — of God, and family and friends, and the people around us.

In this kind of dying, activity replaces reflection and time to sit at the feet of Christ. In this kind of dying, there is no regeneration and renewal of your spirit.

Slowly over time, activity can replace time with God, until prayer is almost non-existent and we find ourselves a shell of the person we once were.

The good news is that if you find yourself in the midst of that kind of dying, God can breathe new life in you.

Just look at the story of Martha and Mary in the Bible.

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.  She had a sister called Mary,who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 

But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one.^[a] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Luke 10:38-42

The story of Martha and Mary shows the danger of losing sight of Christ in the midst of too much activity.

I don’t think, however, that it is a condemnation of being active. It is simply a condemnation of too much activity — the type of activity that doesn’t leave room for Christ and the people who need you.

I used to think that the whole point of the story of Martha and Mary was to be like Mary, because Jesus said that Mary had chosen the better portion.

But as the years have gone on, and contemplating the fact that both Martha and Mary are Saints in the Catholic Church, I’ve begun to see the need for greater unity between the active and contemplative aspects of my life.

Even in a cloistered contemplative monastery, work is still an important part of their life — so we can’t use prayer as an excuse for inactivity and slothfulness.

I guess what I love about this story is that Martha was having a bad day — she had lost sight of the point of all of her activity, and who among us can’t relate to that?

But the good news is that Martha realized where she had gone wrong, she humbly took Jesus’ loving correction, and she went on to become a Saint.

Yippee, there is hope for the rest of us!

It is also teaches us the value of work rooted in prayer.

It is in the finding that balance of activity rooted in prayer that we will accomplish things of lasting value and find ourselves experiencing true happiness.

A true life of prayer should lead to real, concrete actions for God, and real concrete actions for God should lead us to back to prayer.

Martha and Mary have come to mind more than once in the last two weeks of working long hours to prepare our home for a celebration.

After a few late nights and early mornings, I guess you could say something clicked within me and I began to lose sight of why I was doing what I was doing.

What began in love, ended in just doing more, more, more until my peaceful pace was replaced with a bit of a frantic frenzy.

Can anybody else relate?

I was becoming a bit too much of a “Martha on a bad day” in my bulldozer approach to everybody and everything around me.

I knew that if I didn’t take some time to sit at the feet of Christ that I was going to make a royal mess of things — and so I did.

I decided to go on a retreat — a very short, entirely free retreat — at the local adoration chapel. I took the time to sit at the feet of Christ and recalibrate my efforts so that they could be rooted in Christ again.

It was exactly what I needed.

Jesus was there and I had a chance to say I was sorry for going a little “cray-cray” with all the preparation and losing sight of Him and everybody around me in the process of too much activity.

You know, anybody can do the same thing, no matter your faith background. Call the local Catholic Church, find out adoration times and places, and sit at the feet of Christ anytime you choose.

It won’t cost you a thing except a few moments of your day, but what He will give back to you is priceless.

So I want to encourage you to go and meet Him, especially when times are busy, because it is in those times that you need Him the most.

Make time for Christ, and allow that better portion to propel you to action that will make a lasting difference in your lives and the lives of the people around you.

No doubt, I may have a few more “Momzilla” moments before all is said and done, but that’s okay, because God knows I am just trying my lousy best over here.

I will just have to leave the rest up to Him. Lord, have mercy.

Back to work. Have a great weekend!

Sharing over at Kelly’s