As they went on their way, he entered a village and a woman named Martha received him into her house. She had a sister called Mary who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving and she went to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." The Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things. One thing is needed. Mary has chosen the better part and it shall not be taken away from her." 
(Luke 11:38-42)

As we ponder over these words, It becomes evident that the family of Bethany is a household of persons at various stages of the spiritual life. Martha is clearly the one who best represents ourselves. She is having trouble with her false self. She is thoroughly devoted to the Lord. They are friends. Jesus loved to stop at her home. She exemplifies "good souls" at the beginning of the spiritual journey when they have the best intentions to serve God. But on this occasion Martha is upset and anxious. She is converted on the conscious level of her psychological awareness, but not converted on the unconscious level of her motivation. She is under the influence of the emotional baggage that she has carried with her from early childhood, and consisting of the three basic energy centers of the human organism.

These three basic energy centers develop out of the instinctual needs of every infant for security and survival, affection and esteem, and power and control. These are biological necessities. When they are withheld, which is everybody's experience to some degree, we either develop compensatory attitudes or repress the painful frustrations of those needs into the unconscious. There the energy remains secretly influencing our behavior and our decision-making processes.

Martha: The Purgative Way

Our first conversion focuses on trying to straighten out and clean up our ordinary conscious life. Martha is doing this. She is in the first stage of the spiritual journey--the Purgative Way. The Purgative Way consists in becoming aware of how our unconscious needs affect ordinary daily life including our service of God. It is unsettling for us to realize that, mixed in with our good intentions, are these infantile attitudes. They are necessary in early childhood in order to survive, but totally inappropriate now that we have grown up.

Martha is preparing a great dinner for Jesus. She resents his detached attitude towards her labors. She confronts him saying, "Don't you care that my sister is sitting idle at your feet? Tell her to help me." Notice the undertone of indignation. In the beginning of our spiritual journey we often have a co-dependent relationship with God. For example, we might say to God, "Give me what I want or else I won't pray any more." Although Martha is busy serving Jesus, her motivation is shot through with selfishness. The source of her frustration seems to be that she has lost control of the situation. She can't get the dinner out on time. Her sister is no help. Any time we are upset by anything, the source of the problem is primarily in ourselves. Complaining about Mary sitting at Jesus' feet is Martha's way of projecting her problem on to somebody else. Martha needs to let go of her attachment to the results of her work. She is active in the service of God but her activity is not contemplative service. She is working for herself. No doubt she thinks she is working solely for God, but in fact her motivation is mixed.

The apostles Peter, James, and John were in the same boat. They were human beings like the rest of us with all kinds of problems. Afflictive emotions like grief, anger, jealousy, envy, vanity, discouragement, and pride are rooted in the fact that we don't know what our real motivation is. The thrust of Jesus' initial teaching in the Gospel is the challenge to grow up! Our drive to obtain the symbols in an environment of security and survival, affection and esteem, and power and control is doomed to frustration. Martha virtually says to Jesus, "You had better get that sister of mine to help me if you want something to eat!" Jesus replies, "Martha!" We can almost feel the gentle tone of rebuke in Jesus' voice, "Martha. You are troubled about many things, but only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken away from her."

That was Jesus' word of wisdom for Martha. A word of wisdom is not necessarily a rebuke. It is simply a statement of fact. There is nothing wrong with Martha's activity. It is her motivation that is defective. In Christianity, motivation is everything.

Mary: The Illuminative Way

Let us now take a look at Mary's activity, or rather, her lack of activity. She is sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to his words. Her whole attention is focused on the Master. She is listening at a level much deeper than her ears can hear. It is the kind of listening that takes place when our spiritual faculties begin to vibrate to the divine life present in Christ. One who hears the word of God on this level keeps it.

Mary is not doing anything but listening, yet as she listens her attention moves beyond the words or even the physical appearance of Jesus. She penetrates to the divine Person present in the humanity that is visible and palpable. Her faith is expanding. Listening to the words of Jesus is not so much paying attention to what is said, but rather to the experience that is communicated at the deepest level of our being by the divine presence. This is what attracts us. It is not just the words, but the eternal Word of God that we assimilate and by which we are assimilated. This is what makes us Christians--and at the same time, it makes us pray in our very being. This is the ultimate purpose of every form of prayer, devotion, ritual, or sacrament. The word of God in Scripture orientates us towards the transformation of our entire being. "God the Father spoke only one word and he spoke it in an eternal silence, and it is in silence that we hear it" (St. John of the Cross, Maxims).

Martha represents those in the Purgative level. Mary is entering into the Illuminative level. In this state, words and reasoning give way to intuition and the direct transmission of Jesus' divine presence. Mary can hear at this level because of the increase of her faith. Her love moves her faith to a deeper level of listening and to its fruit, interior freedom.

Continued . . .

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Excerpted from The Better Part by Fr. Thomas Keating

You can obtain a copy by visiting the Contemplative Outreach Bookstore.