I have an exercise for you. Think of the 5 most important men in your life. You don’t have to share it with anyone. [Allow time for this.] OK, put that on hold for a bit.
As I said in the opening, yesterday was the 50th Anniversary of the landing on the moon by Apollo 11 with a human walking on the moon, for the first time. The phrase goes, “That’s one small step for man, (although Neil Armstrong declares that he said, “for A man” and the rest goes [have everyone say the rest out loud.] one giant leap for mankind. I am sure today, he would have said, “humankind” for mankind isn’t proper anymore. Let me prove it to you. Remember the 5 men that you thought of? Well probably none of you thought of a female. Language evolves, it changes. Now-a-days, we don’t use the word “mankind.” It used to include females, today it doesn’t. So we change it. Words are important and what we say it important.
I remember exactly where I was when Apollo 11 landed. I was at summer camp for Boy Scouts (Parker Scout Reservation) and they rolled out a TV in middle of a lawn area, so that we all could witness it. I don’t think that I truly understood the magnitude of the event, and I surely didn’t comprehend the risks of what went into it. For example, that lives were at stake, especially with the deaths of astronauts on Apollo 1, or how Neil Armstrong prevented a wrong landing by taking over the controls manually with only about 20 seconds of fuel left.
The entire venture was one of risk taking. That’s something that all of us can be better at. Even the risk of thinking differently about the words we use, for words can help or harm. Doing something risky can be challenging. I don’t mean foolish risks (like texting while your drive, or diving into a river without checking out if there is debris underneath), but a good healthy sense of risk taking . . . as simple as being the first to say “hello” to someone, or being the last to leave an event and help clean-up.
In the gospel, with the wonderful story of Martha and Mary, it demonstrates risk taking. For Martha is doing the usual (and expected) role for women . . . to fix the meal, get things ready for everyone else. But Mary chose to take a risk and sit with the men folk and be in the presence of Jesus. She then gets praised for it.
In a sense, I would like to suggest for each of us here . . . to take a risk this week. Maybe it is doing something that you usually wouldn’t do . . . like running through the sprinkler, or skipping rocks on the lake. Maybe it means something more emotional like taking a risk and saying, “I love you” to someone important to you. Maybe saying, “I am sorry” to that person whom you have grown a part. Or maybe it is simply reaching out, re-connecting, and (in your heart) to start over and not let “that incident” still fester within you.
If I were to re-write the gospel for today, I would have Martha and Mary both in the house, and Jesus says to Martha, “Martha, Martha you are anxious and worried about many things. Put the phone away for a bit. Mary has chosen the better part.” In this day and age, it seems risky NOT to be looking at your phone all the time, or risky NOT to be connected, or feeling that you might be missing-out of something important.
So here is your challenge for the week, when you are waiting in line, or are tempted to look at your phone in the first moment that you wake up. . . don’t. Try NOT looking at your phone . . . for a bit. Try something instead . . . like looking around. Noticing things, observe people, look at the clouds, follow a bird flight. It could be as simple as sitting a bit longer outdoors and becoming more attentive to nature. Perhaps trying thanking God for all that you have been given.
The “norm” says that we have to be busy all the time, to continue to produce, be effective, not waste time, make a buck, stay active. Or worse yet, not be up to date or informed about what is happening. But the gospel story seems to suggest that there is a BETTER way. Your challenge, take one small step for yourself and see what happens.