Mary or Martha?

I do like that little story at the end of Luke 10 which tells about Jesus calling at the home of the two sisters and the different ways in which they reacted. Time and time again the story has been used to comment on the relative merits of devotion and service as part of our response to God, the point being that we need both. Balance is what matters. However, maybe there is a case for pressing things a little further. I've been reading Susan Durber's book Preaching Like A Woman (SPCK, 2007) and was really struck by a brief comment at the end of a sermon on this little story. Of course we know all the kind of thing that we usually draw down from it. But Susan suggests: perhaps we need to tell the story differently - and so it might end - "As Mary sits at Jesus' feet, listening to his teaching, she suddenly says, 'Jesus, my sister Martha is busying herself in practical things. Tell her to come and sit here with us, so that she can listen to you as I do.' And Jesus says, 'Leave her alone. She is doing what is best. It shall not be taken away from her.' What is 'best' is surely what is right for us - for the moment.