Luke 10: 38-42
As they continued their journey he entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary [who] sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”
Of late there’s a lot on my mind and heart. A lot of questions, concerns, big-to-me wonderings, and the usual suspects of “hey did you remember this?” and, “and oh hey I forgot to remind you about this last night before you went to sleep so let me remind you now when you still can’t do anything about it” and, “oh do you see that kid running around? you know he shouldn’t be doing that because he’s four and should be able to sit perfectly still for 45 minutes with his hands folded in his lap.”
Then I started thinking about Mary and Martha, in the pew, mind racing, trying to figure out how to do this and that and the other thing and it simply didn’t stop. I used to think Jesus was admonishing Martha. This morning in the whir of words and thoughts racing through my head, bemoaning the fact that Jesus is here in this space and I couldn’t even enjoy it. I realized Jesus was extending an invitation to Martha to rest, to be with him, to sit at His feet and listen.
Yes there is often a sense of urgency that stuff has to be done. Right. Now. There is work to do, mouths to feed, places to go, people to see, and sometimes we must do these things with great haste, like when Mary, Jesus’ Mom, left to visit her cousin Elizabeth. There is nothing more important than spending time with God, having that conversation with him and listening. That is the better part that Our Lord would not deprive Mary of, that He wanted Martha to have, and that I was giving up in favor of anxious thoughts, worries about the day. As I worked toward calming my mind and heart by handing over the cares vying for attention in my mind to Jesus for him to deal with.
A good bit of this day I spent quilting, finding moments of inspiration throughout. Between making calls, quilting, writing and digging into the work I messaged with a friend about ideas popping into my head. I can, for the first time in a long while, see a whole new book from what I’m working on right now. I’ve been afraid of what I’m writing and now as I’m nearing the end of this part of the journey I’m ready for the next with a bit of a clue where to go. Some of the digging in included taking a good long look at my quilts, expressing gratitude, and listening for the words. Just like needing to, longing to sit at Jesus feet and listen.
God bless,
Teri
A Quilter's Heart 