Distracted.

Leslie and i were driving to the beach to surprise my mom for her birthday.  We stopped for gas and a snack, picking up our conversation right where we left off as i pulled back onto the highway.  After about twenty minutes, i wondered out loud why the scenery looked vaguely familiar.  Turning to my trusty GPS, i realized that i had been so distracted by our conversation that i had turned the wrong way on the highway and went back the way we had come.....rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!  i wish that i could site that as unusual, but it's probably more typical than i'd care to admit.

Distractions.  Email. Text messages. Worry. Facebook. Pinterest. TV.   Fear.   Blogs.

It's one of the reasons i love this story. Especially in this season these few verses resonate with pages from my own journal.

"Mary...sat at the Lord's feet listening to what [Jesus] said.  But Martha was distracted..."

Distracted.  "Unable to concentrate because one's mind is preoccupied."

Interesting that Martha's world was much less techno-savvy than mine, but she, too, was distracted. 

And she's never lived that down.

i suspect that on some level Martha would have loved the privilege of joining Mary.  i can imagine that it would have been a relief to sit for a while and enjoy the company.  i wonder if she tried to concentrate on what the Savior was saying?  If maybe she tried, briefly, to take a break and listen...only to be preoccupied....

Sounds familiar.  How often have i determined to pray, started off highly engaged and, within minutes...lost.  Yesterday, i picked up a worthy book to read just one chapter, and only made it through three pages.  Sigh.

"Martha was distracted by all the preparation that had to be made..."
Here's a detail that most of us have missed as we've looked at this familiar photo over and over again.  Luke [the author] describes Martha being distracted, preoccupied, by things that had to be done.

Pretty much every Sunday morning, i take the time to draw out my schedule on graph paper.  People make fun of me for this because i do know how to use Outlook and i know i can actually print my calendar.  But there is something helpful for me about actually drawing the calendar and using my colored markers to organize my week. 

• Office stuff - orange. 
• Meetings with people - purple. 
• Personal stuff - pink. 

Literally writing it out --- and coloring --- helps me to prepare for the week.  At this time of the year (being careful not to flaunt my "to do" list in an effort to impress you...always a temptation...ugh), it's pretty full of orange and purple.  i regularly have to ask myself:  "Are there things on this schedule that don't have to be done this week?"  Mostly, there is very little of what my dad would have called "fluff".

Martha had guests in her home.  It was dinnertime.   Typically, preparations for guests would have begun long before sunrise, but it is probable that Martha didn't know Jesus was coming with an entourage (not having the benefit of an "OMW" text*).  There was water to be hauled and boiled, chickens to be killed and plucked, wine to be pressed and wheat to be ground.  i don't expect that there was much "fluff". 

Somehow i think we've pictured her making too much of things, as if she was trying to impress people.  Like the other Martha of our day:  whipping up a centerpiece out of twigs and berries, serving a decadent and magnificent meal, finished off with a refreshing but light dessert. 

But that's not the way Luke pictures her.

Look at the photograph again.  Martha was distracted by preparations that had to be made.

i feel such a sisterhood with this woman.  Sigh.  Again.



*code in our family for "on my way"