Urgent or Important: You Choose

Last Sunday we compared Martha and Mary (Luke 10.38-42). Martha is frustrated and anxious, trying to fix a meal; while Mary sits at the feet of Jesus, listening.

I argued that Martha mistakes the urgent for the important. It’s something that can easily happen to us. After all, we live in a very noisy world which clamors for our attention, telling us what to believe, buy, and eat. And of course, the demands are always urgent, but very rarely important—for we are not to live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God (Deut. 8.3). To me, Martha represents the temptation to believe the urgent is also the important.

But Mary gets it. Though we should not set up false dichotomy between Martha and Mary, separating the spiritual from the practical, assuming (wrongly) that prayer is all that matters and has little to do with this life, we have to acknowledge what’s really important: God’s call to know and serve him. It would do us well to follow in the footsteps of Mary, who takes time for soul therapy. In the text, she assumes the role of a student and listens to Jesus. Though Martha's activity would be praised in another context, Mary, at this moment, makes the right choice and is praised for it (I assume because Jesus is on the way to the cross). The point is still the same: Her action calls us to a life of listening prayer. She creates space in her life for the Other.

To do this, we need to learn to embrace solitude. We need to create space in our life—a space that enables us to be attentive to God. Listen to Henri Nouwen: “Solitude is the furnace of transformation. Without solitude we remain victims of our society and continue to be entangled in the illusions of the false self” (The Way of the Heart, 13). What he says is true. The world with its urgent demands continually creates illusions that keep us in bondage. But in prayer, we can let the light drive out the darkness and gain a renewed clarity to live our life with a godly focus. I invite all of you to consider weaving into the fabric of your life a time to be attentive to the God who is calling you and who wants to transform you into the likeness of Christ. Peace!