7th September Trinity, 2012, Two Souls

Luke 10:38-42

7^th August Trinity

Now as they were traveling along, he entered a certain village; and a woman named Martha received him into her home. And she had a sister called Mary who was listening to the Lord’s word, seated at his feet.

Martha meanwhile was distracted with all her preparations. So she got up and said, “Lord do you not care that my sister has left me here to serve alone? Tell her to help me.”

But the Lord answered and said to her, Martha, Martha you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

or, [“Martha, Martha, you are worrying and making noise about many things, when only one thing is needed. Mary chose the better half, and it won’t be taken away from her.” Gaus]

7^th August Trinity

September 2, 2012

Luke 10:38-42

Pairings and contrast play a large role in life: day and night, up and down, inner and outer. Yet these seeming polarities have their own place within a larger whole.

Our souls also swing between opposites. As Goethe says, ”Two souls reside within my breast.”[1] One soul is engaged in working in the outer world—at a job, in our homes. The other soul is inwardly active—reading, contemplating, praying. Yet both souls are two sides of our one selfhood.

The gospel reading warns us about residing too one-sidedly or too emotionally in only one of our ‘souls’. Christ gently chides the Martha soul, not for doing outer work, but for being too worried and bothered about too many things. She is beside herself with anxiety.  He defends the Mary soul that is centered and receptive to Him and His words.

In Christ, our two souls, the Martha and the Mary in us, can eventually merge. Our Martha soul can begin to work in the world from a prayerful, contemplative center, instead of a place of worry. And our Mary soul can pursue the inner life as energetic work. Thus do the two souls within our breast begin to merge their work as one; for they are gathered together under the guidance of Christ, who is our truest Self.

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[1] Goethe, in Faust

Picture: Martha, Mary, He Qi