Marcia, Marcia, Marcia. And Martha, too.

It is so much more fun to be served, than to serve, don't you think?

I mean, seriously. I was a waitress once. And a good one, too. But if I could choose right now to bring other people their meal, and clear their plates for them, or, sit on my butt and have someone else bring me a delicious meal, and clear my plate for me, I would absolutely choose to be the one waited on.

Unless.

Unless the one I was serving was my Lord, Jesus Christ.

Then I might choose to get up and do something. Maybe bring Him a bread basket, or glass of wine. Which is stupid. Because He is my bread basket and glass of wine! But you get the point. Jesus rings your doorbell and walks into your kitchen, and you entertain Him. Period.

Or do we?

"Oh, Martha, Martha!"...(Luke 10: 41) not to be confused with, "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!" (Brady Bunch episode: In her sister's shadow)

Because Martha was serving Jesus Christ! Jesus did walk into Martha's home. And Martha got straight to work. But let's be honest...she was pissed off! Because while she did the cooking and the serving, sweet little Mary was just sitting. No offer to help. Probably not even aware that help was even needed. Her focus was completely on Jesus. And I'll bet she was prettier than Mary, too. How annoying. I mean, if this Gospel story were written today, you can picture it, can't you? You would be at the kitchen sink, and your husband or your kids or your who-ever, would be on the couch, holding the remote. And you would be scrubbing those dishes angrily, while sighing heavily, and throwing them in the dishwasher as loud as you possibly could without breaking them, just so somebody could hear how hard you are working, and so that they would recognize how hard they were not working.

Right? Can I get an Amen? Is this just me? Come on, you know it is true.

We want all the praise and we want all the glory. We want to be noticed and even more than that, we want to be noticed more than others. Maybe not always. But sometimes. Because we are human and we are selfish and we are sinners. And by "we", I mean me. But I also mean you, too.

And you know, I prefer to think of myself as Mary and not Martha, because Martha gets a bad rap, and I do actually picture Mary prettier, and vanity is this thing I am working on. Of course, as good Catholic women, we want people to see us as the holy beautiful one, sitting at the feet of Jesus. I mean, is it just me, or do you, too, picture Mary looking serene and so at peace, gazing up at our Lord, with her long locks of hair cascading over her petite shoulders, and then Martha.... sweating, and angry, with her hair a frizzy mess, running around the kitchen, grumbling and complaining under each anxious breath? Come on, now. Who would you rather want people to see you as? Martha or Mary? Jan or Marcia? We all want to be Marcia!!!! And we all want to be Mary.

But let's face it. We are all Martha. Not because we are the hardest workers. Not because we do way more work in our homes, or at the office, or in our volunteer positions, than anyone else in the entire world. We are all Martha because we are women; women who run the house, who wake up our church, who are the glue and inspiration for so many. But mostly, because we are women who all too often forget the Gift Giver of our task at hand. We are all Martha, because we, in the midst of whatever crazy we are currently responsible for smoothing out or preparing beautifully, we lose sight of the One we are called to serve. And when we do this, anxiety creeps in, faith moves out, and we miss the point.

Because think about it. If every encounter we have is truly an encounter with Christ, then are not our daily lives filled with an ocean of opportunity to serve Him? Does He not provide us with endless chances of choosing Him over idols, choosing light over darkness, choosing water over fire, choosing heaven over hell? This God of ours never tires of seeking us out and giving us every possible gift under the sun. There is no task too small, no task too unimportant. You may be called to speak in front of thousands of people, or to clean that really gross spot behind the toilet. Both tasks can serve Him, if both are done for Him.

But maybe you do not quite believe that just yet.

Maybe you have not yet met this Jesus, and maybe you are thinking about all of the people you encounter each day and are thinking, "No way was that guy at the DMV, or that woman at Six Flags, or that teenager at the mall JESUS." And if that is where you are, well I have to say ...I am a little but envious. Because that means you have yet to meet Him. And there is nothing quite like that moment when you meet your true love, right? You still get to meet Him, hold His hand for the first time, and feel that rush. You get to discover for the very first time in your life what falling in love really feels like. Lucky, you.

But let's just say, for the fun of it, there is a God. And this God loves us. And that if we are to keep our hearts and minds focused on Him...not ourselves...not the praise we seek...not the recognition we so selfishly long for all of the time....let's say we are able to keep our eyes on the prize---this awesome love that He is and He has and He always will be...well, then, when we are faced with serving or extending ourselves maybe a bit farther than we feel like, or maybe to a place that is not as comfortable as we would like...doesn't that make the task at hand just a little bit better? Knowing that He is a God who works all things for good, doesn't that give all of our work and our joy and our pain an honest to goodness purpose? Isn't serving others so much sweeter when we are not looking for personal credit, but simply looking to love our Lord?

I think so.

You know, Marcia may have gotten all of those blue ribbons, and yeah, she was totally hotter than Jan, but God is not counting our blue ribbons or measuring our worth on our beauty. And just because Mary chose to sit at his feet and Martha was doing all of the hard labor, it doesn't make one action better in the eyes of God. Martha was not rebuked by God for working instead of resting, because obviously, someone has to do the work. Martha was rebuked for not recognizing that her very work was her prayer. And it is a hard balance, I know...to know when to rest and to know when to work. But if we try to keep Him in our sight, no matter the task at hand, I have to believe that we will find our peace in our labors. I have to believe that a work completed in praise of Him, is way more satisfying than a work we get anxious over, a work that is all about us, a work that is nothing more than struggling to give His glory to our sorry selves.