I can feel my hackles rise any time someone invites us to turn to Luke 10, the story of Mary and Martha. The narrative in my head goes something like, “Here we go again, let’s take a closer look at how I’m not being enough by doing too much,” accompanied by an eye-roll that I may or may not be able to internalise.

Now I’m clearly projecting a whole lot on to the Scripture here, and on to the people who teach from it. But I’ve wrestled with this portion often enough to come away jaded almost every time it’s opened. Not because of the story or the message, but because of the naivety with which it is often applied.

What I would really like is for someone to talk about how pissed everyone would have been if Martha had taken a seat with Mary at Jesus’ feet.

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