瑪爾大活出「真我」 Martha Lived Up To Her Authentic Self

真我系列之三：
瑪爾大活出「真我」（路10:38-42）

我們沒有絕對的自由，不理他人的死活，任性地活出「真我」。當我們率性而行的時候，不要忘記關懷愛護身邊的人！

福音中的瑪爾大，很明顯是一個行動型的人。她「為伺候耶穌，忙碌不已」（路10：40）。她以具體和實際的行動，展示對主耶穌的愛。這是瑪爾大真我的展現，是值得讚賞的。瑪利亞是一個默觀型的人，她坐在造物主前，聆聽真主的講話。作為受造物，還有甚麼行為比瑪利亞的默觀聆聽，更能表達對天主全心全意的愛呢？當下，兩姊妹都活出了她們的真我！

可惜這美好的時刻並不持久，瑪爾大的真我還有一點兒的好性，喜歡拿妹妹來比較。我不相信瑪爾大對妹妹缺乏關心，或者妒忌妹妹；我更不相信她不能獨力伺候耶穌，我反而相信她是一個越做越起勁的人。瑪爾大向耶穌投訴，不一定是錯，因為這纔是真正的瑪爾大嘛！可能她想耶穌基督肯定她的忙碌，比妹妹的默觀，更能表達對祂的愛！這一比較，幾乎打破了整個愛的氛圍；瑪爾大的率性，險些令她忘記了對妹妹應有的關顧。

幸好有主耶穌在，化解了這場危機。祂肯定了瑪爾大的忙碌是美好的，但天主並不需要我們的勞動來增添祂的光榮。同時耶穌基督指出，瑪爾大的忙碌，倘若用來「護守」妹妹的默觀，將會是主所喜歡的，因為這是更好的一份，不能奪去的一份（10:42）！ 感謝瑪爾大，她教導了我們活出真我，也要關愛別人。
天父啊！求使真正的我，即使犯錯，也能造就身邊的人。亞孟！

生命恩泉
圖片鳴謝：virtualpreacher.org

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Authentic Self Series III: Martha Lived Up To Her Authentic Self (Luke 10:38-42) Nobody has the absolute freedom to ignore others and lives up to his authentic self recklessly. When we show our true colours, don’t forget to care and love people around us. The Martha in the gospels was an action type of person. She was burdened with much serving Jesus at her home (Luke 10:40). She showed her love of Lord Jesus with concrete actions. Martha manifested her authentic self and it is commendable. Maria was a contemplative type of person. She sat beside the Lord, her Creator, listening to Him speak. As a creature, what more could Maria do to manifest her total love of God than contemplatively listening to Him? At that moment, both sisters lived up their authentic selves. Unfortunately, this beautiful moment did not last long. The authentic self of Martha is a little bit assertive and likes making comparisons. I don’t believe Martha lacks concerns and care for her sister or even envies her. I don’t even believe that she was incapable of serving Jesus singlehandedly. Rather, I think the more she serves, the more enthusiastic she would become. It is not necessarily wrong for Martha to complain because that’s the authentic Martha! Perhaps she wanted Jesus Christ to affirm that her concrete services show more love than her sister’s contemplation! This comparison nearly ruptures the whole milieu of love. Martha’s assertiveness nearly made her forget the loving care due her sister. Luckily Lord Jesus was there to neutralize this crisis. He affirmed Martha’s industriousness but God does not need our labour to increase His glory. At the same time, Jesus Christ points out that if Martha applied her toil to “keep/defend” her sister’s contemplation, God would love it because this is the better part which would not be taken from her (10:42)! Thanks Martha for showing us that when we live up to our authentic selves, we show show loving care to others as well. Heavenly Father, pray that we may edify people around us even when our authentic selves make mistakes. Amen!