Don't Just Do Something, Sit There!

"In one of the villages he entered during his journey, a woman named Martha entertained him in her house. She had a sister called Mary;  and Mary took her place at the Lord's feet,and listened to his words.  Martha was distracted by waiting on many needs, so she came to his side, and asked, Lord art thou content that my sister should leave me to do the serving alone?  Come, bid her to help me.   Jesus answered her,  Martha, Martha how many cares and troubles thou hast!  But only one thing is necessary;  and Mary has chosen for herself the best part of all,  that which shall never be taken away from her. "  Luke (10:38-42)

      Estase has written before about the ancient Greek categories of Excellence (meaning moral behavior),and Effectiveness (meaning personal accomplishment).  Rarely do Excellence and Effectiveness exist together in the same person.  The story of Mary and Martha would seem to echo the Excellence/Effectiveness dichotomy. 

       Society's obsession with doing has educational consequences.   Liberal arts educations are disdained because they aren't profitable.   The fact that they aren't profitable makes it seem that they aren't practical.   Of course,  knowing about government,  philosophy and history serve to make it possible for one to see through bad arguments and political illusions.  So, although they are not necessarily profitable, they are types of knowledge that are practical in a selfless way. 

     Unfortunately,  the public school system makes no attempt to prepare students to study Greek and Latin, showing its dismissal of Classical learning.   Today's colleges of liberal arts and sciences can be extremely political,  showing that even a selfless education can be turned to selfish ends.   Learning for learning's sake is something whose value the university doubts. 

    But just as how secular people see profit as all-important, some religious people think Christians are preferably people who accomplish greatly.  Obviously we need people to perform practical tasks (like feeding the hungry), but the contemplative life and the pursuit of virtue are all too easy to discount.   The Marthas of the world wish to be social workers,  or,  even worse,  political activists.  A nun that spends her time contemplating the Almighty is more important than a Nun on the Bus because the world already has plenty of political agitators. 

     At the end of this meditation on Excellence and Effectiveness, Estase can offer only the twelve-step suggestion,  "Don't just do something, sit there!"