An issue with busyness

 We are all busy and some of us create our lives around our own busyness. Quite often we use our busyness as an excuse of some sort or another often to 'get out' of some form of meeting or social event. In the Gospel it seems that Martha is shunned by Christ or at least put to the side with preference going towards Mary (Lk.10:41-42) which seems to indicate that busyness should be of the agenda. I believe that it is not that Christ pushes busyness to the side but rather that the pericope as it is written is to highlight the very aspect of busyness I alluded to in the second line that we use it as an excuse. If we re-read the story Martha is using her busyness as an excuse and looks for the benefit of the other to overcome what she perceives to be a chore but is in reality her avoidance or at least acknowledgement of things that are keeping her from Christ.

We are all as guilty as Martha when it comes to attempting to get out of things. It is not whether this person or that person is better it is about taking responsibility of what we are asked to undertake. This is similar to the earlier passage around following Christ. There is nothing stopping us from being busy and if we look at our lives they are filled with our activity that makes us busy. Yet, within our busyness there is opportunity to walk with God and this is what Christ is pointing us toward. It is not that we must give up the busyness of our lives but we cannot and should not use it as an excuse not to come close to God. Our natural habitat is to say impossible or rather I will make time later, yet, Brother Lawrence found God while doing the dishes and being Martha in a monastery, can we do no less?

To be busy or not to be busy that is the question

The main challenge for us is unseeing busyness as a mechanism of avoidance. In our own worlds and our own busyness we fail to see the world and become kin to those that trample the needy (Amos 8:4) as we fail to see them underfoot. In our busyness around 'church' we fail to interact with the society that contains those that are needy, poor and require justice allowing power and authority to rule without the guidance of love and care. We do not wait for the sabbath to be finished or the festivals to be over before we begin to bear down upon those who cannot afford the essentials of live. We just need to look around our country and to see the plight of many people due to our lack of concern and our lack of involvement in the needs of the community. We may not be able to do very much as an individual but what we do is we show God's presence in the midst of our community; a presence of care, concern, empathy and a striving for justice. We cannot be absorbed by our own busyness in such a manner that it grants us the excuse to turn away from both God and our neighbour.

In opening ourselves up to God's presence and showing this to the community we become disciples of Christ and servants of God (Col. 1:25). We become as Mary in commune with Christ and God's love in the present world freed from the burdens that create our busyness and knowing that Christ is leading us in fulness and truth. We can no longer be as hostile witnesses to the evil that is around us but rather we need to become the harbingers of God's love in this world and within our own communities. Involvement means increasing our 'busyness' but with purpose rather than the purposeless excuses that we indulge ourselves. God calls us from out of complacency into a fulness of life which means that we are busy about the ministry of God. Lest we forget our baptismal vows to be disciples of Christ within the places that we are part of, showing God's love to the world. Yes, we also need to take the time that Mary creates within the world to be at the feet of Christ. Yet, being in this place does not allow Christ into the world but rather privatises our faith therefore we need to allocate our time in such a manner that allows for our own well being but also our ministry and discipleship in the world. Each has a gift to which we are called and in expressing that gift we give to the world in our busy lives without neglecting the presence of Christ and our connection to God.