“And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” Jesus tells Martha that she is careful. I do not think this is meant to be criticism. Martha cares a lot. She cares about many things. This is good. She should care. She should pour her heart into everything that she is doing. But the Savior wants to remind her that as much as she is careful, or full of care, she is also needful, or full of need. Some of us, like Martha, hate feeling needy, or, perhaps more accurately, we hate to admit that we have needs. We might like to believe that if we are careful enough and worry enough and work out plans A through Z, then we will never end up in a position where we have to admit that we are weak and needy. I do not believe that Jesus is making the argument that Mary is better than Martha because Mary chose to be needful and Martha chose to be careful. Jesus said that Mary chose “that good part”, not “that better part.” Mary chose to be needful and that was a good choice and it shall not be taken from her. Martha chose to be careful and that was a good choice and that choice will not be taken from her. Neither is better or worse than the other, and to say that we tend to act and feel and choose the good part that Martha chose does not mean that we don’t sometimes act and feel and choose the good part that Mary chose. I think at this moment Martha wanted at least a little bit to not care so much that the party she was throwing would be beautiful and well-prepared and perfect. I think part of her was needful of the companionship and teaching of her friend and Master. It’s not always clear and obvious when we should choose to be careful and when we should choose to be needful, but we should know that it is never wrong to care and it is never wrong to acknowledge that we are needful. Both are good parts and neither will be taken away from us. We should not feel guilty when we have chosen to be needful when others choose to be careful, and we should not begrudge others who have chosen to be needful when we have chosen to be careful. I know that our Savior loves every Martha not in spite of but because they are careful, and I know that He loves every Mary not in spite of but because they are needful. I hope that we can all feel a little more at peace with both our choices to be careful and our choices to be needful.
