"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 only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." Luke 10:38-42
As you read this newsletter, there is probably a little over three weeks until Christmas. What first thoughts and feelings appear in your mind and heart as you read those words? For most of us, they may be mixed. Although we want to experience all those feelings of spirituality, joy, and celebration, we are probably also experiencing feelings of stress and anxiety as we look ahead to all we have to do in the next few weeks. As I looked ahead to the celebration of Christ's birth, I was struck by the challenge of Martha's story. Probably there is no time in our lives when it is more difficult to be a "Mary" in a "Martha world".
Advent is really the time for us to spiritually prepare for the birth of Christ. As we wait in expectation for the celebration of this miraculous gift of God's love, it is important that we nurture our own spirits so we may connect and demonstrate God's love to all those we care about. Advent as spiritual preparation time, however, often gets lost in our hectic rush to make "the perfect Christmas". The "perfect Christmas" really was made over two thousand years ago! When we are racing about, it is easy to miss those opportunities to nurture our connection with God and other loved ones. Sometimes we have to make a deliberate effort to find time for ourselves and to share the gift of our presence with others.
As we consider our plans for celebrating Christmas, perhaps it would be good to remember that the greatest present given was the gift of the presence of God’s love in Jesus. As Joyce Rupp notes, "The gospel stories indicate that Jesus gave few material things to people. What he gave most was his personal presence, gifts of the heart: belief in self, inner healing, peace of mind, compassion, forgiveness, dignity, and justice. This loving presence lives on in us …Sharing the gift of personal presence means that we see ourselves as a gift holding the goodness of Jesus who is Emanuel, God-with-us…Moments lovingly spent with another through prayer or through personal presence carry more beauty and more endurance than anything material we could give." When we are stressed and frazzled, rushing around to find those "perfect" material gifts and filling our lives with all those "have-to" holiday activities, we often have little time to recognize or share our own God-given gifts with others. The greatest gift we can give those we love is the gift of ourselves. However, this gift can be very expensive as it requires a lot of one of our most precious personal resources, time.
Perhaps no passage of scripture better describes the conflict we feel than the one about Mary and Martha. We’ve all felt the struggle. Most of us really want to feel connected with spiritual ideas and experiences during this Advent season. But often our need is unfulfilled because we are too busy, as was Martha, with "other things we need to do".
Here she is, the "Martha Stewart" of the Bible making all these preparations for her special guest, Jesus; while Mary is simply sitting at his feet and listening! And then, instead of applauding Martha, Jesus gently rebukes her, telling her Mary has chosen "what is better". The "better part", "being with" those and what is important to us, is available to each of us, regardless of our personality.
Although it is true that personality-wise, the choice may come easier to the "Mary's" than it does to the "Martha’s", it’s a choice we each can make. It's only when somehow we’re able to strike the right balance between the expectations of others and our responsibilities with our own needs for spiritual growth and expression that we are able to find harmony and peace. This is one of the most difficult challenges of life today because it requires us to make choices on a daily basis; choices about what we value and really need on this journey of life. Perhaps another Christmas miracle could occur if we chose to slow down to remember the real reason for this celebration. You can choose to do Christmas the way you desire. You can consciously decide to be happy, spiritually fulfilled, peaceful, contented, and emotionally present for those you love this year. Or you can unconsciously choose to be a wreck! Take a look at your Christmas "To-do" list. Now realize you can’t do everything. Decide to let only the things you love best remain on the list, and cross out most of "the musts". Now you have time to do to do some of your favorite things and contemplate the meaning of the coming miracle of God's love.
Our lives are gifts from God; what we do with them is our gift to God. This Christmas season, as always, I wish that each of you may have a truly Merry Christmas filled not only with festivities, but also quiet moments of joy and peaceful reflection on God's miraculous gift of love.
Bonnie