We are all HUMAN BEINGS…but,
WHO and HOW are we BEING??
We are not EITHER Mary OR Martha…
we are Mary AND Martha.
When Jesus and his friends came to visit, Martha rushed to prepare a meal while Mary sat entranced, listening to Jesus and enjoying his company. Martha was doing what she was EXPECTED…and probably enculturated…to do…cook, clean, nurture, take care of, MAKE IT HAPPEN! Mary was doing what she was CALLED to do…be authentic, open, curious, engaged…BE PRESENT. Jesus recognized…and HONORED…that both women were expressing love. He didn’t admonish Martha, but invited her to come, sit and listen. I’m sure when it was time to eat, Mary and ALL the guests gladly helped Martha complete and serve the meal and Martha sat and enjoyed their company.
Martha, in her BEING RESPONSIBLE, expressed love as a duty to TAKE ACTION…to MAKE something happen. Living in the external and material world of DOING…rushing into the future to set the stage, or falling back into the past to mentally FIX what happened. Martha’s words are “must”, “have to”, “gotta”, “should”…”the outcome is on ME”.
Mary, in her ABILITY TO RESPOND to God, expressed love as BEING PRESENT, being still, LISTENING, completely immersed in and aware of God’s presence…the action of being still and knowing that God is God. Living in the internal and etherial NOW, from a place of centered, quiet Christ Consciousness…open to the presence of God…HEAVEN. Mary’s words are “trust”, “wait”, “be still and listen”, “expect”…”the outcome is on GOD.”
I am both Martha AND Mary…the urgency of taking ACTION and the necessity of BEING STILL and PRESENT to God.
Scripture tells us “faith without action is dead.”
But, ACTION becomes DIS-EASE when it is not in balance…when ACTION becomes the DRIVING FORCE. When I’m being MARTHA…that’s where I find myself most of the day especially through this pandemic…I feel pressed, distressed and compressed. I’m living from and giving control to the material, external…living “outside in”. Healing…EASE…comes when I stop…hit the pause button and BREATHE. When I center myself and return to God’s Presence…being MARY…I’m living from and giving control to the internal…Christ Consciousness/Heaven…living “inside out”!
Balance and Ease come when throughout my day I sit quietly in God’s presence listening and meditating on His Word…in prayer, song, dance…conversing with Him, loving on Him and receiving His Love! As Elizabeth of the Trinity wrote:
“I feel so much love over my soul, it is like an Ocean I immerse and lose myself in: it is my vision on earth while waiting for the face-to-face vision in light. [God] is in me, I am in Him. I have only to love Him, to let myself be loved, all the time, through all things: to wake in Love, to move in Love, to sleep in Love, my Soul in His Soul, my heart in His Heart, my eyes in His eyes . . . .”
Once I sit like Mary at the feet of Jesus or in the lap of the Father, listening to His Holy Spirit, I can move into and through my day knowing that God is guiding my steps…I’ve heard and continue to hear what He’s saying to me. I can now be Martha and act on what I’m being led to do. When I’m feeling stressed, I’m now aware it’s my body signaling me that I’m moving beyond God…I’ve become external and material again, doing what I think I should be doing instead of what I’m led to do.
“You see, he was TRUSTING GOD so much that he was WILLING TO DO whatever GOD TOLD him to; his FAITH was made COMPLETE by what he DID—by his ACTIONS, his good deeds.” James 2:22
So, it is true…faith without action is dead…but action without faith is INSANITY! When FAITH…being MARY…is the DRIVING FORCE, we first become aware of God’s presence, listening to Him, trusting Him to lead us into action, then…being MARTHA…ACT without hesitation or doubt!!
Hugs and More Hugs,
Princi
The Kindred Coach
The Kindred Coach 