Mary vs Martha: the same smackdown 2000 years later.

So, we all know the story: Mary, the good one, sitting at the feet of Jesus and learning.  Martha, the tattle-tale, serving God in the kitchen.  We all know Mary chose wisely.  Jesus said so.  But, later on, when Lazarus is dead, Martha is the one who's got her theology on straight.  I think Mary and Martha were two sisters who had completely different personalities.  Mary was the thinker.  Martha was the doer.

Have you ever noticed the same things in your lady friends?  Some are thinkers and some are doers.

Now, that's a complete over-generalization, I know.  We are not all either thinkers or doers.  We've got some of both.  If you're like me, the urge to "think" and to "do" war just about every minute of everyday.  I wake up absurdly early every morning.  Early bird gets the worm, right?  So, which worm should I get? Should I work out?  Do laundry?  Read my Bible?  Start the kid's breakfast?  Read some lighthearted work of fiction?  Watch a movie?  Catch up on the WSJ?  Do?  Think?

I have a friend who can't sit still long enough to read.  She's all doer.  I know someone else who immerses herself in thought, but doesn't do much about it.  A thinker.  At some point, the doers are so busy doing, that they don't take much time to develop theological depths.  Thinkers can get so caught up in their thoughts as to make them lack any real world value.  Mary, our thinker, chose to sit at Christ's feet, look up to Him, learn from Him.  A good choice.  But when the rubber met the road, she still had lots more thinking to do.  Though Martha didn't do much sitting, her practical theology stood her is good stead when the very worst happened. 

Isn't it amazing how our thoughts and deeds play themselves out when our faith is tested?  You build your knowledge of God on how He works in the world (hospitality, visiting, physical care), and you are going to be strong when the physical things go wrong.  You are prepared.  If you strengthen your mental knowledge of God in how He works in theory (evangelism, education, even praise or theological rhetoric) and you are going to be prepared for those tough discussions. 

Think about the end of your life, when you've lived like you are for 60 or 70 years.  What will you be prepared for then, when your daily life gets REALLY hard (body failing, health failing, friends dying, family growing).  What fruits will you bear?  What weaknesses?

These are thoughts I've been having in the shower, but I'm enough of a thinker that my thoughts can get cyclical.  I need to bounce these thoughts off others.  So, others: thoughts??