This is the Moment

My journey to this blog began, innocently enough, a few months ago while sitting in Church. The Gospel reading was a familiar one. In Luke 10:39-42, we hear the story of Martha and Mary. Martha eagerly welcomes Jesus into her home, and begins serving him, so much so that Scripture tells us she felt "burdened" with all she had to do. At the same time, her sister Mary, sits at the feet of Jesus and listens to Him speak. In typical Martha style, she asks the lord if he is okay with Mary doing nothing and leaving it all up to her (paraphrased of course). Yet Jesus surprises Martha with His reply, "there is need for only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part..." Sitting there and listening to this reading, I found myself dazing in and out of attention as I had heard this verse countless times before. However, as Father began his homily, I began to see this story in a much more personal way. Father simply stated that Mary was "in the moment." This shook me! I began to think about all the times in my life, and in my ministry where I find myself anywhere but "in the moment." As a Youth Minister setting up a Life Night, how often do I find myself more concerned with the "flow" of the evening than I do the moments in which God is working on the hearts of His youth. I asked myself, when was the last time I took a step back, literally and figuratively, at a youth event and reveled in the amazing work God is doing in the hearts and lives of these teens? Sadly the answer was, not very often. This idea of being "in the moment" translates into my life outside of ministry as well. There are several areas in my life in which I am never content in the present, rather always concerning myself with what is to come. And like Martha, I become burdened or stressed about things that are completely out of my control, rather than experiencing the joy of the present. My most recent example of this is in the new life of my one-week old baby girl Emily Grace. As a father, you find yourself pondering what will the future hold for this little girl? What can I do to assure that her future is strong and successful? Then she looks up at you and makes a new face you have never seen before, your heart melts and you are brought quickly back to the present time in which you fall in love with this girl more and more everyday. I believe that if we begin to truly focus on the present, the day at hand, that we will see how great our lives are. Think to yourself about the frustrations on your heart and mind, and then ask yourselves are those future areas of concern or present. Obviously we face trials in our present lives, but wouldn't we be more equip to address those without adding on the stresses of future crosses. Throughout the Gospels we read about the anxious nature of some of Christ's apostles. At times they seem so interested in the future events that they are blind to the presence of Christ standing before them. Therefore, I leave you (and myself) with this question. Is it possible that in our attempts to control and regulate future trials, we are closing our eyes to the ways in which God is working in our lives right now? In a world full of Martha's, perhaps it is time we learn to be a little more like Mary.