The truth is that our lives are full of potential distractions – jobs, family, media, and free time (what’s that?)… And in Sunday’s gospel we hear how we might deal with them.

We pick up our story with a visit from Jesus to a friend’s home, where Martha and her sister Mary played host. It’s commonly assumed that Martha was busy taking care of guests while Mary just sat around - hence, Jesus chastised Martha for her distraction and commended Mary for her attention. However that’s not what the text says. We get no indication that Mary didn’t have as many tasks to tend to as Martha. What we do get is the idea that Martha allowed these tasks to distract her.

The importance of this distinction is that you and I often feel like the spiritual life is one in which we lock ourselves into solitary confinement, shunning responsibility, and wearing such heavy blinders that we’re oblivious to all that might divert us.

As we know, this is not our present reality. We can never prevent distractions, but we can improve the way we deal with them. Mary’s good decision wasn’t that she was bereft of distraction, it’s that she did not heed them, Mary put aside her diversions and focused on what was most important: Christ’s voice in her life.

What are we allowing to take us away from the voice of Jesus? How are we allowing the less important to supplant our awareness of God’s presence?  What priorities need resetting and precedents need reexamining? Distractions are often only distractions when we allow them to be so.

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Reading:

Practicing Resurrection – Eugene Peterson

Switch – Chip and Dan Heath

Resilient Ministry – Burns. Chapman, Guthrie