September 6, 2023
Dear Wonderful Soul,
It has been a month since my last email about
Inner Martha and Inner Mary. I want to thank all of the individuals who responded with their own inner feelings around being an Inner Martha (most of them) or an Inner Mary.
I’ve had a few more
thoughts since I wrote the email. Thoughts that awaken a much more powerful understanding of how these relationships between Jesus/Christ, Mary, and Martha live in our daily lives.
I am sharing
the first part of these thoughts below and will bring more in another email in a few days as I need to digest and find the right words.
The Biblical Relationship
Mary and Martha, like everyone else in the Gospels, live in relationship to Jesus/Christ. Martha meets the earthly needs of
the human being, Jesus, in whom the Christ incarnated and Mary engages with the Christ and the purpose of his incarnation. These are social/spiritual deeds. Both Mary and Martha were in service to the other, Jesus/Christ as OTHER, not self.
Mary and Martha:
Archetypes of Hospitality and Spiritual Engagement
I want to address this sacred social experience which is really about seeing the Christ-Consciousness dwelling in another human being. I am talking about NOW and HERE…not about the Biblical story.
Martha serves and connects with the Other through hospitality.
Mary serves and connects with the Other through
engagement.
Both are seeing Christ-Consciousness embodied in another human being. Imagine the hospitality and engagement you might offer another human being if you could be aware, if you could perceive, the I-Consciousness dwelling
within their soul and needing to incarnate into their whole earthy being and all their thoughts, words, and deeds.
Sacred Conversations:
Mary and Martha in My Work
Right now all of my sacred conversations take place
via phone or zoom. I do not worry about hospitality in space but I bring Martha’s hospitality in my caring for their sense of being welcomed. I bring warmth in my voice and a smile on my face. There is exciting scientific research on the role of prosody in the voice and expression in the face in comforting the other...Martha's gesture.
I bring Mary’s authentic engagement. I listen. I ask questions. I revere and encourage what is incarnating in the soul and life of my client.
Friendship's Treasures:
Embracing the Gifts of Mary and Martha
With family and friends, we want to be awake to both giving and receiving these loving gestures of Martha and Mary.
I am realizing how
important it is to bring myself into this understanding of Mary and Martha. Yesterday, I was invited to a neighbor’s for a visit. She was very thoughtful of my comfort. We were sitting outside and as the sun was setting, she noticed I was squinting, She made me stand up and moved my chair so that the sun was no longer shining directly into my eyes. It was a loving Martha gesture.
And her questions and responses during our conversation were pure Mary. Thoroughly engaged, she kept asking me to share more deeply about my work. Her open heart and mind, opened my heart and mind.
What a blessing of friendship.
Nurturing the Self:
Inner Martha and My Well-Being and
Inner Mary and My Inner Development
I’ve lived alone for the last 12 years. My Inner Martha and Inner Mary live in relationship to myself. I’ve made myself a comfortable home. I prepare myself nourishing meals. (I do wish I took myself on long walks and could keep my papers organized)
Encouraged by my Inner Mary, so sensitive to my searching soul, I buy myself great books full of wisdom and inspiration and I read most of them. Each evening, my Inner Mary has me write down a wisdom-seeking question to take into my sleep.
