Luke 10: 38-42, The Better Part--Listening

Luke 10: 38-42

Vs. 40-42, “But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things, there is need of only one thing, Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’”

The story of Mary and Martha is one of the most well known stories of the New Testament. It is often presented as a reminder to take time from the busyness of life to listen to the voice of God. Considered from the perspective of Jungian psychology, Mary, Martha, and Jesus the Lord symbolize energies within our psyche/soul.

Mary represents the part of us that seeks to listen and hear the voice of our larger Self or God Within. She shows up within as the urge to search, seek, study, pray, contemplate, and practice different spiritual (including personal growth) beliefs and disciplines. We can connect Mary to what Carl Jung called the individuation instinct. The individuation instinct is an inborn drive, an automatic longing and desire that pulls us towards a conscious relationship with the Self/God Within.

The longing and seeking to connect with the Self/God Within is often thwarted or criticized by the Martha in us. Martha represents the ego that gets outer directed and dismisses the value and need for quiet times of self and Self reflection and listening. We, with our egos or conscious sense of self, get focused on the roles we have. The learned response or “right thing to do” crowds out the option of listening for the Self/God Within to direct us in the moment. Martha was concerned about her role as hostess; she was busy with the tasks of serving others, including Jesus the Lord. Yet, she was missing the very opportunity to connect with him.

We too can get so focused on our ways of connecting to the Self/God Within that we miss the opportunity to be with our selves/Selves! The disciplines of journaling, studying, working with dreams, structured worship experiences, yoga, etc. can become more important than the actual being still and listening to hear the Self/God Within in the moment. Today’s scripture reminds us that being still and quiet, listening for the voice of the Self/God Within is “the better part” of being in the presence of the Self.

I invite you to take a few moments to listen for the voice of the Self/God Within you. Be open to feeling the movement of your Inner Divine Spirit towards a still, quiet place within you where you sense and know the presence of the Self/God Within.