Another day of
little achievement. In light of yesterday’s failure, I thought it important to
get around the garden, and I did, grateful for both benches. But that was about
it. I didn’t finish the Italian essay, and have still to read my canto of the
Inferno. 1798 steps, the app says. It's cooler today, although still no rain.
Today is the feast
of St Martha (as in Martha-and-Mary). The world has always stuck up for her,
busy in the kitchen while her sister sat at Jesus’ feet. What else could she
have done? A meal, however simple, for six or eight people (I’m assuming Jesus
didn’t arrive alone), requires some preliminary thought. There was probably a
servant. Could she have sent the servant out for the 1st century
Palestinian equivalent of pizza, and sat down beside her sister? That certainly
seems to be the course of action the biblical narrative recommends.
You don’t want to
get me started on the Prodigal Son.
Getting around the garden in this weather is no small achievement. And a good starter is worth keeping. Some famous bakers' starters have reputedly been kept going for centuries.
ReplyDeleteHot and muggy here. Yesterday's little rainstorm didn't make it any cooler.
It never did sit well with me that Martha got scolded. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on the Prodigal Son. In Religion class we used to divert (plague) the visiting priest with thorny theological questions. We never thought of Martha. Perhaps because we were not yet in her position. Chloe
ReplyDeleteCould Jesus and friends have gotten up and helped in the kitchen? I have never been pleased with the treatment of of Mary or Martha - neither one could do anything right. Even when they do the exact opposite of each other.
ReplyDeleteCould Jesus and friends have actually gotten up and helped with the meal? You can teach while you prep a meal, as women know. But even though Mary and Martha do the exact opposite of each other, both are criticized anyway. Women just can't do anything right is the lesson I take from it.
ReplyDeleteExactly.
Delete-- Gretchen (aka stashdragon)
I find Dorothy L. Sayers’ depiction of the Jesus-Mary-Martha interaction thought-provoking — from THE MAN BORN TO BE KING radio plays for the BBC in 1941, Play 7, Scene 1:
ReplyDelete————————
MARY:…But when you spoke to me, I felt the flame of the sun in my heart. I came alive for the first time. And I love life all the more since I have learnt its meaning.
JESUS: That is what I am here for. I came that men should lay hold of life and possess it to the full.
LAZARUS:…I’m sorry. I’m afraid I’m rather a depressing companion. Pay no attention. Dry your eyes, Mary — here’s Martha coming. She’ll scold me if she sees you in tears.
MARTHA (arriving in a flurry): That careless girl has broken the big yellow pitcher. And something has gone wrong with the scullery door. It won’t shut properly. How much longer are Peter and James going to be? The meat will be dried to a cinder. Mary, I do wish you’d take a little interest in the housekeeping. There’s too much work for one pair of hands, and that Abigail’s no use at all. It’s all very well for men to sit about talking all day, but a woman’s place is in the kitchen. Rabbi, why do you encourage Mary to leave everything to me? Don’t you think it’s a little unfair? Do tell her to come and help me.
JESUS: Martha, dear, you are the kindest soul alive. You work so hard and you take so much trouble about everything — except, perhaps, the greatest thing of all, the thing that Mary cares about. She has chosen the better part, and you must not take it away from her.
…Martha, can the cooking get on without you for just five minutes?
MARTHA (grudgingly): Well, I daresay it could—
JESUS: Then stop worrying about it for one moment and think. Sit down. Do you remember a story I told you the first time I ever came to see you?
[Jesus tells story of Prodigal Son, which is also very interesting in Sayers’ voice]
MARTHA (upset): Oh, Rabbi! Have I really been behaving so unkindly?
MARY (distressed): No, no, never! Rabbi, indeed she hasn’t. She and Lazarus have been perfect angels to me.
MARTHA: I don’t know. Perhaps I HAVE resented things a little bit. Down underneath, not on top. Rather pleased with myself, you know, for acting more generously than I felt. Staying at home all day, one gets a bit narrow and exacting —a bit— Yes, Rabbi— I know what you’re going to say: don’t say it.
JESUS: Very well, then, I won’t.
MARTHA: ‘Self-righteous’ — I can see it in your face… Mary, my lamb, don’t take on so. He’s quite right — and I’m sorry. There, there! Come along in now. We won’t wait for the others. If their supper’s spoilt it’ll be their own fault for being late.
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What fun it would be to sit down and have such a discussion as this one with Dorothy herself (I think I could convince her to swap out “humans” for the more narrow “men” in Jesus’ statement). And she was an avid knitter too!
-Elizabeth in Oregon
Just read several similar translations of the Martha and Mary story and it still seems that Jesus could have phrased things better so they did not come out as such a stinging put-down of Martha's plea. Such as "Come sit down, too. Those dishes will still be there after I leave. And you might miss out on something more important that I have to tell you."
ReplyDeleteI am a big fan of Ignatius and the highly intelligent Jesuits but am almost reluctant to state it for fear that one day he/they will be debunked, uncloseted, criminally exposed, demoted or deemed no longer relevant. He/they are human and therefore, like everyone else, subject to imperfection or obsolescence. We are indeed living in interesting times. Chloe