[RST] Getting our priorities straight: Mary, Martha and us

In last Sunday’s lesson we discussed the story from the New Testament of Jesus’ visit with Mary and Martha, when Mary sat at the Saviour’s feet while Martha was feeling so “cumbered about much serving” that she entreated the Lord to request that Mary help her. When I asked the class who we thought we might have been in the same situation, most of us related to Martha: we felt we probably would have chosen to run around doing the chores instead of choosing to stop and listen.

The story is one about priorities, about what we choose to do when there are competing needs. Interestingly, members of the class were unanimous that both of the women had made good decisions, or, at least, had made their decisions for good reasons: Mary saw an opportunity to listen to the Saviour, Martha could see that there was work that needed doing. When Jesus told Martha that Mary “hath chosen that good part” he was not — as I had once assumed — condemning Martha’s choice but simply helping Martha to see that Mary’s chosen priority was perfectly valid.

The story of the death and raising of Lazarus is another that helps us understand priorities. Despite knowing of Lazarus’ illness the Saviour tarried two days before departing for Bethany since he knew that there was an important miracle that needed to take place. On his return, as he wept at the grave of Lazarus, the crowd seemed rather judgemental of the delay, saying “Could not this man [Jesus] … have caused that even [Lazarus] should not have died”, not yet knowing for what reason the Lord had chosen to postpone his arrival.

In a world where we have so many competing priorities, deciding which ones deserve precedence can be hard. We can seek guidance through prayer and personal revelation to help us decide what should be done first, decide when it is time to say “no”, and figure out how to find time and space for our physical and spiritual needs. There will be many occasions when both Martha’s choice and Mary’s choice will be as “right” as the other, when that choice is made with sincerity of heart. We do, however, need to be mindful that we should try not to be like the crowd or like Martha as she expressed her dissatisfaction with Mary’s choice. It is often difficult to know the reasons behind another’s choice of priority, and who are we to judge the correctness of that choice? It’s hard enough prioritising choices as it is without feeling that the watching crowd may be casting aspersions about our every decision.

Finally, I note that Mary probably found joy in her choice, while Martha, who had not chosen wrongly, unfortunately seemed to find her choice a burden. There will be many times each day when priorities are such that we have to choose to do the tedious, the necessary, the repetitious, the dirty-and-smelly, and the do-I-have-to-I-suppose-I-do. If we can somehow find a way to find some joy in these things too — as they make the house a little sparklier, or our clothes a little fresher, or give service to “one of the least of these” — then maybe we will not be so bothered by the length of the “to do” list and the clamour of all the competing priorities.

May you be blessed to find balance among your competing priorities, and may they bring an abundance of joy.

Note: The Relief Society Thoughts posts are reprints of little mini-sermon/parable/homily-thingies that I’ve been writing for the women in my Relief Society group at Church. I write them when inspiration strikes and email them out as well as posting them to our facebook page. I thought I’d add them to my blog as well. You can find others by clicking on the “Relief Society Thoughts” category label, in the grey box at the end of this post, and the most recent of the thoughts should have a list of all the posts by title at the end. Previous posts are:

Achieving our glorious potential (Sep 2014)
The stinging nettles in my garden (Aug 2014)
The black Sunday shoes (Jul 2014)
An unspectacular sunset (Jul 2014)
On not doing ALL the things (Jun 2014)
Gulp! I didn’t see that coming (Mar 2014, which sort of explains the job of “Relief Society President”)