Mary And Martha

FRI., JULY 17, 1992, 6:20 AM
FARM, STUDY

I let you put the title in the order in which you, and most others, usually do – Mary and Martha, not Martha and Mary. Is this important? Martha is the first one mentioned in the short story, and Mary doesn’t do anything but listen. So why does she come first?

This is a small contrast, illustrating two ways of serving Me that is still relevant today. In fact, you are illustrating yourself right now. You could be out around your Farm doing useful chores. Instead you are here in this familiar place, listening to Me, the Holy Spirit, Who was and was in Jesus, the Christ. Service can be quiet and devotional, or overt and active. I encourage you to write, but only so that the thoughts and ideas that I send to you might be remembered. You see, though, in pure form, these are different ways of serving Me, I usually prefer an amalgam… Mary AND Martha. You hear Me, and you write, and thus the Teachings can be shared with others.

Now back to the order in the title… in your culture it should be Martha and Mary, because you tend to value work over passive being, helping others over contemplating ideas. You know that I am in favor of service to others, but I also want your attention to My Truths. You see, spirit can be allied with your body, and you can be helping others in doing, but also spirit can be allied with your mind, and this also is a form of service.

In the Luke story if Mary would have helped Martha with the meal Jesus would have had no one to talk to. If Martha also had sat listening to him they would have had nothing good to eat. So Martha didn’t get help because Mary preferred to hear Me tell stories. And Martha didn’t get to hear My stories because she had work to do, to make Me feel welcome.

In your church there are some who offer much service, but do little Scripture reading and praying. There are others who quietly commune with Me or read My Scriptures over yet again and who do little that is obvious to make the church function. There are a few who do neither, for quite a variety of reasons, but then I can spot those who joyfully do both. This is what I want from you. I want you to spend time with Me and My Holy Scriptures… and with previous Teachings that I have shared with you. I also want you to serve in all those ways you can… like telling the story for children and leading the sermon discussion. Next month when then church staff puts on its breakfast for the congregation I want to see you serving in this way.

Professionally, I urge a somewhat similar balance. I want you to be teaching in the wonderful style you have developed, but again I call on you to find or “make” the time to put into print some of the thoughts, ideas, and conclusions you have generated, all with My help. These should be in your profession’s literature. I am fully aware, certainly, of the fullness of your life and of your desires to concentrate on your actual teaching in these last years. And yet I want you to remember that I have called you to help restore the concept of spirit to your culture’s concept of health. You can do this in a wider way by crafting the papers I have encouraged you to write. If they’re not published they still will be available to your students, and on to students of theirs, later.

This requires some work, and thus it is in the Martha tradition. Yet it requires quiet contemplation also, which Mary exemplifies. And, naturally, none of this should interfere with your being with Me for this learning session early of a morning, your continuing “Mary” assignment.