The modern means of communication have made life much easier for us. On the other hand, they have also made us busier bringing many distractions in the bargain. Our mobile phone is a good example. It keeps us occupied most of the time: be it with emails, music, films, games, selfies, WhatsApp and umpteen other apps. In some countries, a new law is being contemplated to ban its use while walking on the road, as it has already caused a few fatal accidents and poses serious threats to one’s own and others’ safety.
Talking about being busy with distractions, a useful incident in the gospel comes to mind. Once Jesus was visiting a family. Only Martha and Mary — the two sisters, were at home. The gospel narrates, “But Martha was distracted by all the preparations to be made.” Her sister Mary, as the gospel tells us, sat in rapt attention at the feet of Jesus listening to him. Seeing this Martha complained to Jesus saying, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her to help me.”
Jesus gave her an excellent response applicable to our times, which is simply swept away by some wonderful modern discoveries, particularly the distractions packaged in our smart phones. He tells her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things. There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”
It is strange that Martha complaints to the guest which should have actually embarrassed him. For, in any case nobody leaves a guest visiting our homes alone doing nothing. Jesus, however, in his capacity as a spiritual master makes use of the occasion to advise Martha and all of us too, to pause for a while and look at those things we are distracted with, troubled from and worried about.
Our lives are certainly cluttered with many unnecessary preoccupations and worries? The Bible also reminds us, “…Vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? …What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.”
This being the situation with many of us, what then could be the best approach to life? Jesus appreciated Mary for the role she chose as she sat down at his feet listening to him. We too could attempt, be it through meditation or through prayers, or indeed by reading our precious scriptures as well as listening to uplifting spiritual music or even singing bhajans (hymns), and discover an altogether new, but fascinating world. That would be a different distraction, absolutely worth its while.
