I was asked to speak in Sacrament Meeting yesterday, and I was given free reign to talk about mothers or women. I chose to speak about the story of Mary and Martha, but I wanted to give it an approach different from what we normally hear.
Mother’s Day talk on Mary & Martha
Nice talk, I’ve always felt defensive for Martha. I can’t believe they gave you free reign. They’d never give that to me.
Well, it was free reign as long as I talked about mothers or women. I think there was a moment of regret as I started out though. ;-)
Thanks :)
It’s really funny to be in the congregation and watch the bishopric’s faces at times like that.
Oh, I wish I could have seen their faces. ;-)
Very nice talk… gee would have liked them to have asked you to speak it LAST week when we were there to hear you in person :)
That would have been nice.
I never liked the story of Mary and Martha because I always felt like it was used as an excuse to indict and berate women for their choices. I’d get inwardly indignant and defiant and defensive of Martha. And then I read something in a novel (The Lake of Dreams) that shed a whole new light on the story- and now I love it. The book pointed out the immense significance of this moment in which Jesus sits down with Mary and Martha- it is significant because in those times, women were little more than property. They were traded, married off (no consent necessary), enslaved, and valued for what they could do, but not for who they were. And yet, here is the son of God, and he VALUES them. He spends time teaching them, talking with them, SEEING them. He knows their worth. To Him, they are not commodities, they are not lesser, they are not dispensible- they are precious. And that is a beautiful lesson.
Thanks for your thoughts, Wendy. I agree that these stories only ever receive such superficial attention, which is sad considering how deep and complex they are.