Missing Christ In Preparation

Martha and Mary were sisters but had different approaches to life. How often do we get bogged down with "having to do things right" and getting everything "perfect" before we feel ready to live? Jesus shows us that all the earthly is temporary and that the important parts of life are to be found in Spirit. The White Robed Monks of St Benedict believe that Jesus never said no to anyone and try to focus on the lessons that Christ came to teach humanity - that of unconditional love.

Transcript

Jesus came to a village, And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. She had a sister called Mary, Who sat down at the Lord's feet and listened to him speaking. Now Martha, Who was distracted with all the serving, Said, Lord, Do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me. But the Lord answered, Martha, Martha, He said, You worry and fret about so many things, And yet few are needed. Indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part. It is not to be taken from her. The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ. So in this very short Gospel reading, We see something very interesting and simple, Yet so, So, So profound. Two sisters meeting the Messiah. Martha welcoming Jesus into her house, Scurrying around because everything has to be perfect for the Master. Mary who couldn't care less about everything going on around, But being with the Master. I think more than ever, The story is something that we need to listen to. More than ever, This story is one that we should really take to heart. How often do we get stuck in ritual? Doing things just right? How often do we get stuck in this moment of preparation? So much so that in that preparation, We lose the biggest thing of all, And that is God himself. We lose Christ. We are so busy with our daily lives in living good lives and being good Christians and being good people that we are not children of God. We are so busy in making sure that we are on the right committee, That we are on the right path and seen by the right people because that is what God wants. That is not what God wants. Yes, It is important that there be people who create space. Yes, Yes. I'm not saying that we should all now just roll over, But why do we do what we do? Why do we create space? Is it because we need to make things perfect for God? We are not perfect. I am sorry to tell you. We will never in this life be perfect. But in that imperfection, We are perfectly what God intends us to be. In that imperfection, We are perfectly what God intends us to be. So what if we can stop? What if we can stop trying to make things perfect? What if we can stop putting off God in preparation for God? What if we can say, Here I am, Lord. Here I am right now. Use me as you wish. Here are my achievements. Here is everything that I am capable of doing. Here are my flaws. Here is where I stumbled. Lord, Make all of this part of your plan. Use all of that. Use my imperfection so that through that I can be at your feet. So that through that I can be with you. And that I will stop faffing around. That I will stop trying to prepare for you and just be with you because you are already there. You worry and fret about so many things and yet few are needed. Indeed only one. That is my prayer that as we go into this week we will recognize that we don't have to be perfect to be with God. God is never away from us. We don't have to get lost in preparation and in committees and in setting up things perfectly for God. We can just sit. We can become silent. We can listen to the Lord. Amen.

Reviews

Thank you. The busyness of preparation not only distracts me from focusing on what is truly essential in my time with God, but uses up valuable time that I would otherwise be using to spend with God.🌅🙏💝

Amen 🙏🏼