Mary & Martha

Post for March 22, 2012:  Mary and Martha

Most of us have heard the story of the two sisters and how Jesus commended Mary for choosing to spend time with Jesus instead of serving Him and the Apostles.  Well, every once in awhile, the poetic muse strikes.  The idea for this poem came to me as I was lying in bed trying to go to sleep, but couldn’t because I was thinking about all of the stuff I needed to do the next day.  I suspect many of you can identify with this…

Mary in a Martha World

The alarm clock cries out and shatters my sleep

There’s no time to pray, got appointments to keep

I shower and shave, grab a quick bite to eat

Pet the dog, kiss the wife, then get out on the street

I dash to the office, sit down at my desk

Confer with my calendar to see what comes next

Two meetings, a luncheon, reports that are due

Phone calls to return, not one minute for You

Into life’s maelstrom I feel I’ve been hurled

I want to be Mary in this Martha world

No email, no Facebook™, no Twitter™, no text

But time in Your Word, finding solace and rest

And worship and praise, let my heart-songs arise

For time spent with You is my most coveted prize

The day passes on with no slacking of pace

From office to home’s not the end of the race

There’s dinner and dishes and bills in the mail

The day’s winding down but I’m running full sail

There are clothes to lie out and some lunches to pack

And maybe some TV before I hit the sack

I know it’s Your company I should be keeping

But look at the time, Lord, I need to be sleeping!

Into life’s maelstrom I know I’ve been hurled

I want to be Mary in this Martha world

In life there will always be tasks to be done

But let me keep first place for God’s only Son

For Peace, Joy and Love, all shall be my reward

Whenever I’m Mary in this Martha world

I’m here but a moment with You evermore

My Savior, Redeemer, my Jesus, my Lord

© March 22, 2012

Christopher D. Kilday

Fall in Love

Post for March 11, 2012: 

Our Men’s Group at Church was wrapping up the second series of videos in the Men’s Fraternity curriculum, “Winning at Work and Home”, by Robert Lewis.  Our final assignment was to prepare “Ten Key Moves” based on the instruction that we thought would help us succeed in these areas.  As I have done frequently in the past, I was letting my thoughts “percolate” until the night before our last class.  I had come up with a few “ho-hum” ideas, but nothing that I felt was inspiring.  I went to bed and in the morning, when I woke up, I thought to ask the Holy Spirit for some ideas.  What He said was, “Fall in Love.”  At first it seemed a little odd, but the more I thought about it, the better it got.  I ended up with four areas in my life where “falling in love” will make a huge difference.  Here they are:

1.  Fall in Love with God.  “God is Love”, (1John 4:16) and “We love because he first loved us”, (1John 4:19).   God is the source of all love and He created us with the capacity to love.  It is right and fitting that He should be our first and deepest love.  It is also the first commandment according to Jesus in Mark 12:30 “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment.^”  Really, how could we not love Him after all He has done for us? (reference John 3:16).  Spend time in worship, spend time in His Word.  “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” (James 4:8)

2.  Fall in Love with Yourself.  I don’t mean in a self-centered, egotistical way, but if you don’t love yourself, you will never be able to truly show or give love to others.  You can’t give away what you don’t first possess.  One way to do this is to learn and reinforce who you are in Christ.  For starters, check out the list from my January 1, 2012 post.

3.  Fall in Love with your Family.  Robert Lewis states that the Paradox Principle, “Die to Live”, is the key to success at work and at home.  Conventional wisdom believes that when we live for ourselves, then we are happy and successful; but is that really true?  When we live for ourselves, there is no depth of understanding and no appreciation for one another.  We attempt to manipulate the marriage and family relationships for our own benefit or we ignore the needs of our spouse and children while we focus on our own interests.  Emotional walls go up and your love dies a lingering death due to neglect.  Life together becomes a series of joint obligations and fiscal responsibilities.  Where is the joy, the meaning, the purpose in living like that?  But, when we live more for others and less for ourselves, we give love and we show understanding.  What we have given, we will also receive, and the doorways to true emotional intimacy are opened.  Now there’s a life to die for!

4.  Fall in Love with your Work.  Each of us has a unique set of skills and abilities to go along with our passions in life.  Entering a career field that isn’t consistent with whom you are is one of the saddest things you can do and it will be a source of great frustration throughout your life.  Security is no substitute for the dreams God has placed in your heart.  The good news is that it is never too late to change.  Invest some time (and maybe a little money) and discover where your interests and your skills align and make a plan to get your “dream job”.  The old saw is true…”Find a job you love and you will never ‘work’ a day in your life.”

Fall in Love with God.  Fall in Love with Life.  It’s why we were created and what we were created for.