“Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home.  She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying.  But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’  But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing.  Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’”    Luke 10:38-42 (NRSV)

If the enemy wants to take us out of the Lord’s presence, he will use fear and distraction.  (I say “fear” here but I could just as easily say “worry” – they are basically the same state of being since they are both rooted in our refusal to believe that God is sovereign.)

But let’s get practical, here.  There is a lot to “worry” about – paying our bills on time, making enough money to pay those bills in the first place, getting our kids into the right school, making the right decision about our kids’ education in the first place . . . I could go on, right?  You could too, I imagine.

And what about distractions?  Sure, there are the distractions that we bring upon ourselves (social media, television, hobbies), but what about those distractions we can do nothing about?   Like when I got up early this morning to do some theology reading and my two-year-old woke up an hour early and walked right into the living room as I took my first sip of coffee.  She needed some water, and was a bit cranky from rolling out of bed too early.  So surely, you say, it is the right thing to tend to her needs.  (And, for the record, I did.)

But what about poor Martha?  Surely someone had to prepare dinner for Jesus, and it was Martha’s home, so certainly it was her task – a worthy distraction to prepare a meal for her Lord, right?

But Jesus says there is need of only one thing.  Why does He always do this?  Martha was just trying to be a good host.  I was just trying to read a good book.  Parents just want their children to be safe and happy.

Now I don’t think Jesus was chastising Martha – obviously it was a good thing for her to serve her Lord, just like it is a good thing for me to read and for parents to want the best for their children.

But Jesus says there is need of only one thing.  And in Matthew’s gospel He again tells us to seek that thing first.

I don’t know, maybe Martha should have just chilled out and ordered a pizza.  I find myself asking, “Would Jesus rather have had Martha drop everything and join Mary at His feet, even if it meant that no one got to eat that night?”  That would not be very practical, right?  (never mind the impracticality of Mary dumping a ton of expensive perfume on Jesus feet, which Judas was quick to criticize (John 12))

So if Mary has found “the better part,” then what is keeping us from sitting at the feet of Jesus?

And since this is a blog ultimately about education, I will ask this question another way: what is keeping us from bringing our students to the feet of Jesus?  What is distracting us from first and foremost nurturing their souls?  What are we afraid of?  What are we anxious about?  What are we distracted by?  (Did you get as far as you had planned in the math book this year?)

I think this is worthy of contemplation.