HE CAME FOR ALL

You may see me repeating mailings from the past. Please bear with me and join with me in praying for those who are seeing them for the first time. Pray that they will be well fed spiritually – no matter who their higher power might be. For some, like many of us it’s God. For others it will be Allah or another holy being. All of us receiving love, through the Spirit of the man called Jesus who came for us all.

A number of new readers have joined us to receive my reflections – people I have come to know through my travels via LinkedIn. One of them is photographer Ro Arfat Kahn, whose picture you saw last Thursday. He’s from Myanmar, living in one of the refugee camps in Bangladesh.

This picture shows Rohingya children playing around polluted surroundings with piles of garbage, where they have lack of open spaces and proper waste management exposes them to health and environmental risks due to poor sanitation in overcrowded conditions.

AT HIS FEET

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.

Luke 10:38-39

Why was Mary so eager to hear Jesus? What made him so special?

Jesus had wonderful lessons, many stories, and a love inside him that he freely shared. In those days women were discouraged from learning. For Mary to sit closer to Jesus than his disciples and men from the community was unheard of. Yet Jesus welcomed her. She was important to him.

Although her sister had complained that she wasn’t helping with the housework, Jesus encouraged Mary to stay and listen to him. He told Martha, “Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”  In other words, he did not want her to be deprived of anything as special as the spiritual food he was offering.

This teacher was different from any other person she had known. He spoke in a way she hadn’t heard before. He was wise, though humble. He revealed truth to Mary’s hungry heart.

By current standards, he was a radical, showing compassion for the sick and befriending those who were considered outcasts. He spoke about a heavenly kingdom, one that she would not have to wait for, but one that had already arrived.

When I read about Mary, I see her as someone who had a child’s heart within her. The abundant enthusiasm and openness she had for learning was very much like that of a youngster.

Does Mary remind you of yourself—today, or as you once were?

Jesus once said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19:14) I think Mary was like one of those children. Are you?

The place Mary found at Jesus’ feet is available to all of us. It’s a place of comfort where you can be yourself, completely known and loved. It’s a place where you’ll be sure to find intimate friendship and spiritual rest.

marja