Thanks Rich, sometimes we do need to be reminded and it is so rewarding to spend time with Him.
Beverley

Are you familiar with Clarence Jordan's Cotton Patch Gospel?  It's a very loose paraphrase of parts of the New Testament written in South Georgia style.  Now, everytime I post something taken from Eugene Peterson's The Message (it's a paraphrase, too) I get cranky comments, but I'm going to go ahead, take a risk, and put the first several verses of Luke 2 from the Cotton Patch Gospel here because I think you'll like it:

It happened in those days that a proclamation went out from President Augustus that every citizen must register. This was the first registration while Quirinius was Secretary of War. So everybody went to register, each going to his own home town. Joseph too went up from south Georgia from the city of Valdosta, to his home in north Georgia, a place named Gainesville, to register with his bride Mary, who by now was heavily pregnant.

While they were there, her time came, and she gave birth to her first boy. She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in an apple box. (There was no room for them at the hospital.)

Now there were some farmers in that section who were up late at night tending their baby chicks. And a messenger from the Lord appeared to them, and evidence of the Lord was shining all about them. It nearly scared the life out of them. And the messenger said to them, "Don't be afraid; for listen, I'm bringing you good news of a great joy in which all people will share. Today your deliverer was born in the city of David's family. He is the Leader. He is the Lord. And here’s a clue for you: you will find the baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in an apple box."

Your retelling of the Scriptures about Mary & Martha are warm and touch the heart, just as Jordan's & Peterson's are.  Thanks - it makes us think twice and consider how we are living our lives.

Grace & Peace,

Bunny 

Here's a link for you. http://rockhay.tripod.com/cottonpatch/

I love the brief bio of him: Clarence Jordan was a strange phenomenon in the history of North American Christianity. Hewn from the massive Baptist denomination, known primarily for its conformity to culture, Clarence stressed the anti-cultural, the Christ-transcending and the Christ-transforming, aspects of the gospel. He was an authentic product of the Bible Belt, of the rural, agrarian heartland, of the people's church (he got his college degree in agriculture, graduating in the same class as Senator Herman Talmadge at the University of Georgia). Clarence pursued this tradition to its very end, ending at the top with a Ph.D. in the Greek New Testament from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. (taken from koinoniapartners.org)

Very rich, Rich! I agree with your "take" on the Martha/Mary situation and your conclusion that we can get so caught up in doing the right things we forget the important, meaning just hanging out with Jesus.

And I, too, am a fan of Cotton Patch Gospel and have a copy. Thanks, Bunny, for adding that rendition. 

umm cornbread.  that would go great the the limas and rice i am making for dinner.  yeah rich you haveto do your research before you write your own bible. 

Thanks Rich!  I love the explanation of Martha serving collard greens.  It really makes it a story I can relate to more.

Shannon: I pretty sure Jesus didn't taste corn bread during His earthly life.  I don't remember it being mentioned in the Bible, even as maize.

Me, I like bluegill (a small panfish), dipped in cornmeal batter and fried in butter, covered in ketchup!

Here's a thought: Jesus went noodling, but he didn't need to use his hands =D