"That darn Mary...I can't believe her. Every time I ask her to do something she's always got an excuse. "Oh but Martha I have to go to read," or "Martha I'm sorry I told ___ I would walk to the well with her so she could tell me about her latest problems," or "Oh Martha I really wish I could do that for you this morning but I told the women of the town we could meet and have a Bible study at that time." Okay I get it. She's a good person. But sometimes it would be nice to have a little bit of help around the house! All I ever do is cook and clean and cook and clean and cook and clean. Guess who reaps the benefits but never contributes? Mary. What am I going to do about her?" Martha's head was swirling was thoughts and complaints about her little sister who just didn't get it. Martha doesn't understand Mary, Mary doesn't understand Martha. They have a great relationship and they love each other a lot, but Martha has spite building in her heart towards Mary.
"Poor Martha...she just doesn't understand the real purpose to life..." Mary wants Martha to understand why Mary is the way she is, but she doesn't think Martha will understand.
"Mary. I need your help this morning, please. This time it's really not optional. We have a really important house guest coming to stay and I cannot and will not prepare alone. All I ever do is ask and ask you to help me and most days you just ig-"
"Sure Martha I'll absolutely help!"
"...Well that was easier than expected." Martha was utterly confused at Mary's willingness to help, especially considering she didn't even know who the house guest was that was coming to stay with them.
~2 Days Later~
"MARYYYYY!! Come down and help me in the kitchen when you are done sweeping the floors and dusting the sitting area!!!"
".......Mary???????"
"Okay now where did that girl go?! This is the time I need her help the most, our house guest will be here any second!!" Martha panicked when she realized that she might have to finish the preparation alone because, of course, Mary had disappeared from all of the house duties.
Martha walked into the living room completely distracted by all of the things still needing to be completed that she nearly tripped and fell over Mary. "Mary, what in the name are you doing sitting in the middle of the floor? We are not finished prepping and you to me you wou-"
"Hello Martha, your home is quite lovely! Mary has told me all about how hard you've been working to prepare for my arrival."
"Je..Je..Jesus hi welcome to our home! I didn't know you were going to be here so early, all of the preparations aren't completed yet I am so sorry! Let me run to the kitchen and bring you something to eat and drink. Mary please won't you come help me?!" Martha was shocked. Jesus had arrived hours earlier than he was supposed to, and she didn't even notice him when she walked into the living room. He hated her. She was sure of it.
Martha was about to walk to the kitchen when Jesus stopped her. "Martha, I don't need food or drinks. I don't need a clean house or a grand meal. I don't need or want any of this. Do you know what I deeply desire?"
"...you mean all of the preparation was for nothing?"
"No Martha. Of course I appreciate it, I just don't need it. Let me ask again. Do you know what I deeply desire?"
"Well Jesus I thought you would've wanted me to prepare and clean and make your visit to our home perfect, so I guess I really don't know..."
"Martha I want what Mary has given me, and what I know you can also give me. Quality time. I want you all to sit at my feet and listen to my teachings and let me share with you all how much you mean to me. Everything else in this world is so trivial and not important in the long run. Time with you all, now that is important to me. Please, come sit. Do not worry about the rest of the cooking and cleaning, we can worry about that later."
"Jesus, how am I supposed to be a good hostess if I don't even host you?"
"Martha, believe me when I say I will be the happiest house guest in the world if you will just sit and enjoy my presence."
Author's Note:
The story of Mary and Martha has always hit me hard. I love how Mary sits at Jesus' feet and wants to spend time with him and worship him, but I often relate with Martha because she has so much that she wants to complete and that society tells her needs to be done before hosting a house guest. I wanted to tell this story from Martha's perspective and then share how I think Jesus would have handled the situation. Thanks for reading!
Bibliography: Mary and Martha, Luke ch 10 in the Bible.
"Poor Martha...she just doesn't understand the real purpose to life..." Mary wants Martha to understand why Mary is the way she is, but she doesn't think Martha will understand.
"Mary. I need your help this morning, please. This time it's really not optional. We have a really important house guest coming to stay and I cannot and will not prepare alone. All I ever do is ask and ask you to help me and most days you just ig-"
"Sure Martha I'll absolutely help!"
"...Well that was easier than expected." Martha was utterly confused at Mary's willingness to help, especially considering she didn't even know who the house guest was that was coming to stay with them.
~2 Days Later~
"MARYYYYY!! Come down and help me in the kitchen when you are done sweeping the floors and dusting the sitting area!!!"
".......Mary???????"
"Okay now where did that girl go?! This is the time I need her help the most, our house guest will be here any second!!" Martha panicked when she realized that she might have to finish the preparation alone because, of course, Mary had disappeared from all of the house duties.
Martha walked into the living room completely distracted by all of the things still needing to be completed that she nearly tripped and fell over Mary. "Mary, what in the name are you doing sitting in the middle of the floor? We are not finished prepping and you to me you wou-"
Mary, Martha and Jesus in the home of Mary and Martha.
"Je..Je..Jesus hi welcome to our home! I didn't know you were going to be here so early, all of the preparations aren't completed yet I am so sorry! Let me run to the kitchen and bring you something to eat and drink. Mary please won't you come help me?!" Martha was shocked. Jesus had arrived hours earlier than he was supposed to, and she didn't even notice him when she walked into the living room. He hated her. She was sure of it.
Martha was about to walk to the kitchen when Jesus stopped her. "Martha, I don't need food or drinks. I don't need a clean house or a grand meal. I don't need or want any of this. Do you know what I deeply desire?"
"...you mean all of the preparation was for nothing?"
"No Martha. Of course I appreciate it, I just don't need it. Let me ask again. Do you know what I deeply desire?"
"Well Jesus I thought you would've wanted me to prepare and clean and make your visit to our home perfect, so I guess I really don't know..."
"Martha I want what Mary has given me, and what I know you can also give me. Quality time. I want you all to sit at my feet and listen to my teachings and let me share with you all how much you mean to me. Everything else in this world is so trivial and not important in the long run. Time with you all, now that is important to me. Please, come sit. Do not worry about the rest of the cooking and cleaning, we can worry about that later."
"Jesus, how am I supposed to be a good hostess if I don't even host you?"
"Martha, believe me when I say I will be the happiest house guest in the world if you will just sit and enjoy my presence."
Author's Note:
The story of Mary and Martha has always hit me hard. I love how Mary sits at Jesus' feet and wants to spend time with him and worship him, but I often relate with Martha because she has so much that she wants to complete and that society tells her needs to be done before hosting a house guest. I wanted to tell this story from Martha's perspective and then share how I think Jesus would have handled the situation. Thanks for reading!
Bibliography: Mary and Martha, Luke ch 10 in the Bible.
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ReplyDeleteHi Piper!! I really enjoyed your story!! I love the characters that you used and the quick development that you had. I was kind of surprised by Jesus making an appearance, but it really made the story come together and added another element to the plot. It makes sense that he came in as I read but the first involvement of Jesus was a true shocker.
ReplyDeleteHi Piper! I love that you switched the perspective to be from Mary to Martha. I feel like this was a great addition to the well-known story to shed some light on the other characters more. Another thing I enjoyed was how modernized your piece was. I liked the dragging out of the names and all the question marks/exclamation marks to emphasize certain things. It all made the story really interesting to read! Great work!
ReplyDeleteWOW! I really enjoyed reading your story! Your author's note really resonated with me. I agree that society has groomed us to believe and do certain things just to believe we are good. I see that poor Martha was so caught up in society's expectation and have neglected the real purposes. I like the format of your story as well. It made it easy to read and the dialogue was fun too!
ReplyDeleteI wonder why Martha and Mary are how they are. Has Martha always done all these things while Mary doesn't? Has Mary ever helped Martha? Why don't they talk to one another and try to see each others point of view. I think they have both severely misunderstood one another, which is why they feel this way.
What if there was a scene prior that showed them hashing things out and it did work that id why we are here right now?
Overall, great job with the story!