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Morning Meditation
June 6, 2025
Luke 10:38-42
Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ 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.’
Meditation by Jeremy O’Neill
A certainly have a lot of sympathy for Martha. Her sister was just sitting there listening to this man talk, while she had so much to do. It sounds like Mary was neglecting some of her responsibilities, so it makes sense that Martha was upset. This passage calls into question both our personal as well as our collective priorities, which feels like a timely discussion in a world where we all seem to be so busy.
I do believe that rest and contemplation are important, and that we ought to be able to set aside time to be with God and be with one another. On the other hand, it feels like much of the contemporary self-help rhetoric around rest assumes a certain level of privilege. If your basic needs or those of your family are not met, you do not have the luxury to rest. So while much of the discourse around rest involves talk of work/life balance, cutting back, and “finding yourself,” these are not practices that are universally available.
That being said, it can be easy to overidentify with our work, such that our job takes up everything beyond just being a way to meet our basic needs. If we find ourselves in a position of stability, it is fair to ask ourselves about our priorities. We continue to make idols out of financial excess, career advancement, and being constantly busy which can distract us from relationships. Those of us whose employment is connected to the church are often guilty of this. We think that being busy must mean we are closer to God, but in reality God does not care how busy or productive we are.
That is something about Jesus from which everyone can benefit. He never looked at someone and judged whether they were being productive or whether they had a successful career or how motivated they were. He focused people on what would feed them spiritually, and reoriented them from a life focused on this world towards the transcendent. It is so difficult for us to grasp this in a world with “high potential individuals” where our value as human beings is so wrapped up in how much we are able to produce. Jesus called the disciples to drop their nets and follow him, putting aside distractions and turning towards God and towards each other.
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