The Quiet Table

A few years ago, chef and restaurant owner Marcus Samuelsson told an interviewer about a lesson he learned from his grandmother in Ethiopia. She would spend hours preparing an elaborate meal for guests — injera bread, fragrant stews, roasted coffee. But when the guests arrived, she never stayed in the kitchen. She sat down at the table with them. "The food will be fine," she would say. "But this moment will not come again."

Marcus admitted he spent years in professional kitchens obsessing over every plate, every garnish, every timing detail. It took him decades to understand what his grandmother already knew: the meal was never the point. The gathering was the point.

Martha loved Jesus. Nobody doubts that. She welcomed Him into her home and immediately set about honoring Him with the best hospitality she could offer. But somewhere between the kneading and the stirring, she lost sight of the Guest Himself. Her service became its own purpose. Meanwhile, Mary simply sat at His feet and listened.

Jesus did not scold Martha for cooking. He gently reminded her that all her bustling had pulled her away from the one thing that mattered most — His presence.

We fill our lives with good and necessary tasks, many of them done in the Lord's name. But the Savior invites us to pause, to sit, to listen. The work will be fine. But this moment with Him will not come again.