Every day I greet the morning the same way billions of other people do – with hope and a prayer. Through the rising mists of my pre-dawn consciousness I offer a vague invitation to the Almighty to take me, take the day, come inside and be present.

And then I get up and go about my business.

As a professional Christian (someone who gets paid to do this), the day has started well before I have. There are hospital patients to hunt down, volunteers to corner, sermons to bootleg, couples to talk down off ledges, sages to memorialize and screaming babies to baptize – do you want to hear more?

The invitation that started my day has become more ritual than real world - piety not verity – I have opened the door for the Guest then promptly left Him all alone in the living room.

Yes, it’s the Martha/Mary syndrome that we will hear all about in this Sunday’s Gospel. We know the story, Martha invites Jesus in, then gets so caught up in the work of hospitality (ever wonder if her last name was Stewart?) that she turns into a whiny tattletale – complaining to Jesus that her sister won’t help… wah, wah, wah. Jesus stays cool and points out it’s not her, but her sister who’s spending the time most productively. Zing.

It’s a lesson that speaks volumes to Christians of all times who have fallen victim to doing so much for God that we forget about God.

In this A.D.D. age, when our skills of attentiveness, concentration and discipline are more challenged than ever, we do well to ask ourselves what we really meant when we invited Him in in the first place? If we’re going to welcome our Guest, ought we not pay proper attention? What keeps us from doing so? How might we brush aside the distractions and be more attentive to the Holy Presence that’s right next to us?

Reading:
Wild at Heart – John Elredge
Mountain Reign – Joe Lacy
The 4-Hour Workweek – Timothy Ferriss