“Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful; and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:38- 42, KJV).

The holiday season is filled with much activity. People are in a hurry to get everything done in a short space of time. So much time is spent in “doing” that sometimes there is little time and energy for “being.” Over-commitments, obligations, and the rush keeps the soul from experiencing the true spirit of the holiday. The attempt to develop a joyous occasion leads to frustration of spirit. Modern society is a fast push and technological advancements create a human need to keep up. There are a lot of physical accomplishments, and yet the soul of man is still stressed. Sometimes God intervenes in life and creates a moment in time when people must take stock and reevaluate priorities. An unexpected illness, loss of a loved one, job loss, natural disasters and other situations come into our lives, and we learn to sit at the feet of Jesus and feed our soul with the Word of God. In the story of Martha and Mary, Martha is busy with preparations for her guests’ accommodations. She was concerned with being of good service to her guest. Mary sat and gave attention to the guest, listening and learning. To know something requires time of concentration and devotion. Martha was “doing” and Mary was “being.” When we focus on this story, we learn that it was not a problem of doing the wrong things but of doing things for the wrong motivations and perhaps of having minor things obscuring higher priorities.