gospel · 29 · Bethany
Martha welcomed him into her house and was distracted with much serving; Mary sat at the Lord's feet and listened. Martha asked him to tell her sister to help, and got an answer that has been quarrelled over for two thousand years — Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary, and Mary has chosen the good portion. What is easy to miss is the posture: to sit at a teacher's feet is the formal position of a disciple, and Luke gives it to a woman without remark. Luke names the sisters and not the village; John supplies Bethany, and gives Martha the confession that in the other gospels belongs to Peter — I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.
The sentence the contemplative and active lives have been argued from ever since.