Becoming human

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 (Luke 10:38-40a).

Becoming human

Come and sit here by me. This is Jesus’ invitation. Just sit. Here. You will rediscover your lost heart and remember who you are.

Living scatters consciousness. The mind spins from one thought to a disconnected next, flying off in divergent directions, losing track of the center, the heart of who we are.

Martha is a metaphor for fractured consciousness; distracted by many things every word and action bristles with impatient energy disconnected from any depth of heart and being. Everything gets done, but is there any love in it? Does her work flow from her heart or from feverish anxiety about superficial appearances?

At Jesus feet, Mary receives gifts of love and wisdom that penetrate the heart, filling her being so that she knows a deep acceptance and love embracing and filling her.

She becomes who she is, a human being, a vessel of this love who, like all of us, requires frequent filling because the stresses of life eclipse the heart.

When this happens, we live shallow lives. Words and actions leap of the top of our minds instead of flowing from the core of who we are as beloved beings. We lose ourselves, the joy of living from the heart of love where blessing and grace flow like water from a fountain.

Some live their entire lives in this unhappy state. For the rest of us, it is easy to lose ourselves in the whirl of living and perhaps especially amid the anxiety and sadness of Covid-19. With everything that has been lost during this time, the greatest is the loss of our souls, our heart, our humanity.

But we can be restored. For our humanity is a gift received while sitting at the feet of a great and all-surpassing love, who says, ‘Come sit by me. Let everything else go for a while and just be with me. You will find your heart.’

Pr. David L. Miller