The Great Debate

There has been a question plaguing me for quite some time. We have had several stimulating discussions this year in Sunday School regarding this question, so I have been wondering...am I Mary or am I Martha? At first glance, it would appear that I am Martha. I am a cleaner, and quite obsessive compulsive about everything, yet is it possible that I could have some Mary in me too? As the eldest of three girls, it isn't a far stretch to see that I am sensible, responsible, and perhaps a little bossy. If I had been in Jerusalem with my youngest sister, Andi, you bet I would have been annoyed with her. I tend to worry about the practicalities of life as my younger sister is more of a free spirit, unburdened by the temporal aspects of this world, thus making her the more charming and personable of the two of us. Yet, it is difficult for me to accept the fact that if I had the privilege to sit at the feet of the Savior, I would rush off to pluck a chicken or do a quick sweep for dust bunnies.



This morning on my construction-congested commute from Spanish Fork to Provo, I had 20 minutes to ponder my dilemma. I usually listen to the Book of Mormon on CD, but I finished disc 13 last week and have been too lazy to dig out number 14. So, I was randomly browsing through the preset stations on my radio. My radio has 12 presets, six are mine and six are my husbands. My stations range from oldies and easy listening to country and country legends. (I like a little Barbara Mandrell every now and again.) There was nothing but commercials on, so I switched the bandwidth to presets 7-12. The music on these stations is all new and popular; there is Top 40, rap, and hip-hop, with some reggae and island rhythms thrown in the mix. I hit station 7...unimpressive harmony...so my finger unconsciously gravitated toward station number 8. Did I just hear what I thought I heard? Better listen more closely...what the hell? Some dude is singing about birthday sex. And in ten seconds, he sings about it three times. In the words of my friend Ang Barker, "I'm scared." Are we serious, 92.5? We are now singing about free love on our birthdays? After I was completely awe-struck, I fumbled to find station 9...ah, a Nickelback tune. We should be safe here. Although I find most of Nickelback's music to be quite titillating, I couldn't understand a word of what Chad Kroeger was crooning about, but thanks to the D.J., I did catch that the title is If This Was Your Last Day. Today might be my last day 'cause I'm gonna wreck from the trauma I just suffered.

Needless to say, I forgot all about Mary and Martha. Who can concentrate on spiritual things when Korihor is streaming through the radio? From now on, Mary and Martha are gonna both stay away from hubby's presets. Those waves are a little too dangerous for early morning surfing.