Luke 10:38-42
The Problem of Busyness
38As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. 40But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
41"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, 42but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
Matthew 10:28-31
Fear the Killing of the Soul
28Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. 30And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
When I read about Martha and Mary (here), I think of the holidays...Many have jobs, and then like Martha, need to go home and do all the work and preparations around the house for your upcoming visitors and guests...
We rush around, we are very busy, preparing, working, trying to make everything nice for everyone...We want things nice, comfortable, well, and easy, especially, for our guests....Yes, we must work, but there must be a balance in both work, play, and our spiritual life...We want things to be almost perfect, forgetting that we are not (perfect)...Jesus understands this, and He understands that we need balance in our lives...Some of us can spend so much time on and at work, that our LORD and our families can get and do get neglected...
Doing to me is doing something...Hands or mind busy on and activity...Actively doing a chore, a job, a task, that is an activity...A structured and experienced doer, is more one-pointed on his/her chore, job, task, or activity -and in his mind...Doing is a more of a body thing, with the mind keeping the body active...
Being is much harder to define than doing...But I define being as keeping more in touch with your inner self, with no focus on a task...It is trying to get and stay in touch with your inner self, and your spirit...Being helps you stay more focused on the present moment in time...Being is more of getting in touch with your mind, the sensations you feel , the sounds you hear, and the thoughts you have...Being allows you to be more neutral, on your thoughts, the sounds you hear, the sensations you feel...The more you are focused on being, the more patient and less anxious you are...I think, when you are constantly working and doing something, your mind stays off these your inner thoughts, inner sensations, and you pay less attention to the sounds you hear...And although listening to Jesus is not exactly being, the going back and reflecting on His thoughts, His teachings, and relaxing in them, in a solitary place is being...Finding more about our inner self is being...Jesus knows we can get trapped and be continuous in a state of doing things, while neglecting other things... Jesus teaches us about the soul and spirit, which is all about listening inside our ourselves and being...In being we learn to keep the body still and relaxed, with the relaxing and learning about the inner self being the important points...
Doing and being are states of mind...When you or someone is doing, they are working with their hands or their minds on a project...This can be work, as one builds something, or working on your current task, or your current work project that you are involved with...Our mind stays one-pointed and is focused on our work project(s) at hand..Work and doing has a way of keeping the mind busy, a way of making us forget or drift from our inner self... Martha is doing, as she works...Martha is focused on her work...Her mind is so focused on her work at hand, that she needs help (or so it seems), and even mentions this to our LORD...On the other hand, when we are sitting focused on things like our breath and letting our minds be free, we are just being...It is often explained as meditation, but listening to Jesus, as Mary did is a the start of being...When we sit in our favorite chair, with nothing tuned in or turned on, and we just are listening to nature, listening to the LORD, and the nothingness around us, we are being...Mary is focused on what Jesus has to say...His teachings and His words, will always be with her to reflect on...Jesus wants us to nurture our soul...
There is nothing wrong with keeping busy, keeping the mind focused on your task at hand...Some of our very best workers are doers and are always doing something...They are just plain good at doing...They can do this and that, and they can do that project or that task at hand quickly and efficiently...They are focused on their work task, and get it done, and done well, and done on time...Some of our best people at being are people who have meditated for years...They can sit, listen, list to nature around them, and relax...They are good at just being...
Jesus knows the difference in doing and in being...It seems, that if we are given a choice, of working at a task on hand, or listening to Him, or reading about Him, or His Father...He wants us to choose the latter...I guess at the end of this day and our day, we choose what is what important doing or being...If we overdo it, we can be all day doers, and lose sight of other things...If we are always doing something, we have our minds so focused that project and the next project, that we can quit being...We can lose site that we need time in each day, and the very least each week to stop, relax, and recharge our batteries, and get our minds off doing...
I said at the end of the day, when we reflect back on what is important in our day -we get some reflection, of doing and being...I think as we age, and make it to elderly, being becomes more important than the doing (maybe because we are working less and cannot work as hard or as often)...When we reflect on these things late in life we see that both doing and being have been an important part of our lives, but in the end - the very end, Jesus wants us focused on Him and His Father...Jesus don't want us to wait till the end for us to realize the importance of our inner self, our soul, and our Holy Spirit...He wants our inner thoughts and focus to be on Him and the Father...He makes that very clear, that strengthening our inner self, our soul and Holy Spirit and listening and learning His ways is the better choice...