I am thinking of using a picture like this to illustrate the three characters. Jesus, the image of the invisible God, Martha's hospitality, and Mary the apprentice of prayer.

Strangeness in this weeks readings

There are some incongruities that texture this week's readings. Martha seems often to be our negative example of discipleship. To be sure she is distracted, but she is concerned with hospitality and the physical needs of Jesus and his party. Is that not the mercy of the Good Samaritan? Doesn't Abraham offer this kind of hospitality to the Lord?

Like Martha, Sarah is distracted with preparations. While Abraham is standing by pleasantly watching his guests eat, Sarah remains in the tent. Though the Lord is far from condemning Sarah, instead he promises her the blessing of child.

All Martha's preparations are good and well, her devotion to Jesus is expressed in the lavish meal she is preparing. We are reminded with her that all our acts of devotion, all of our disciplines are means to an end. We seek Jesus and when we are in his presence even our best actions seem dull in his light. As The Message puts it,

"Martha, dear Martha, you're fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing. One thing only is essential, and Mary has chosen it—it's the main course, and won't be taken from her."

Mystic Martha

Lost in God

This is the notion of Eckhart and some other 13th-century mystics of living "without a why." "Living without a why" means that you don't ask, What's in it for me? or Why am I doing this? You just do the good spontaneously, the way that God acts. God doesn't act because of the why or for any interest of his own....

In his treatment of the Martha and Mary text (Luke 10:38-42), Eckhart defends Martha's focus on the tasks of hospitality. Is that a striking departure from the traditional understanding?

Yes, Eckhart is the first commentator to elevate Martha above Mary. The earlier commentators tried to show that both Martha and Mary were necessary, though Mary's approach is higher. Eckhart says that Mary is the one who's still learning, whereas Martha is the one who has learned perfectly because she combines contemplation and action--though Eckhart doesn't use those words--in an unselfish, detached way. She can now operate as the soul "without a why" and be effective spontaneously without losing that contact with God. Mary's just on the way to that. She needs to learn life.

I get the feeling that living spontaneously in God, or living without a why, is a lot like living the Christian life generally. At some point it becomes second nature, and goodness and holiness seem effortless. But getting to that point is the hard part.