Mary and Martha

Mary and Martha were twins. They had nothing in common except for old fashioned names. Their mother’s name was Jasmine and their father’s name was Keith, so there was no excuse for it in their opinions. They were forced to share everything, including a bedroom. They hated it. They fought over everything. Thank goodness they were not identical. They had an older sister who seemed to have everything. She was sixteen, with long brown curly hair and grey eyes and looked just like their mother. She was very pretty and smart and could play the piano and the violin. Sometimes she played the piano or the violin at music festivals at school, and she even helped play the hymns at church. She was always laughing and talking with their mother and helping her cook or take care of their baby brother KJ. She had her own bedroom and TV and computer and she never wanted them in her room. Their parents even gave her a pretty name. Her name was Alia.

Mary was the oldest of the twins by 2 minutes. She looked just like their father. She was tall and skinny with a round face and her hair was usually in cornrows. Martha was shorter and not as skinny and she wore glasses. Her hair was naturally curly and she looked just like their grandmother. She had a gap between her front

teeth that she hated and that Mary loved to tease her about. The twins were just average girls. They didn’t think that they had any special talents. Their mother said that they were both special, a special blessing from the Lord. But she liked everybody. Their mother always said things like that. The only thing that stood out about them is that they were twins. They were both jealous of Alia, and at the same time jealous of the baby because he was the only boy and their parents acted like he was wonderful. He was really cute, but he cried a lot, and his poopie diapers smelled terrible! They were even jealous of each other.

Mary was jealous of Martha because she had curly hair like Alia and her mother. She didn’t care that her mother said that her hair was just as good, she didn’t think so, and neither did the other girls in her class. She was also jealous that Martha could draw and sing really well. People were always trying to get her to sing solos at church, and Mary would tease her so much she would be too ashamed to sing.

Martha was jealous of Mary because she always had more friends, and she was very good in sports. She played baseball better than most of the boys on the block, and she even watched sports with their father. She didn’t have to wear glasses either, which Martha thought was so unfair! When Mary was outside playing, Martha stayed in her room and read books and drew pictures.

One day Martha found one of her pictures torn up on her bed. She was so angry. She thought that Mary had done it because she refused to be the fourth person that they needed to play ball. Mary denied that she did it, but she also laughed at her. She said her drawings were stupid, and that’s why she didn’t have any friends. She said that nobody liked Martha. Martha began to cry and hid in the bathroom. She didn’t like to fight, but she plotted her revenge. The next day Martha took Mary’s baseball that her father had bought for her, and threw it in the garbage can just before the garbage truck came. That afternoon Mary looked for her ball and couldn’t find it. She blamed Martha and they began to argue, and then they began to fight. Mary was stronger and more athletic than Martha. They were fighting so hard that Martha lost her balance and slipped on the stairs. Martha never felt so much pain before. She screamed and cried. Her right arm hurt so bad! It began to swell before her eyes. Alia ran in to see what had happened. She had been listening to loud music and cooking dinner when the twins were fighting. Mary was crying and saying she was sorry. “What happened?” Their big sister asked them. “Were

you two fighting? How did Martha get hurt?” Mary just shook her head and cried. Martha was screaming in pain.

Alia had to help watch her sisters after school until her parents came from work. She tried to be very helpful to her mother because she was the oldest and she knew how tired both of her parents were. She knew that she couldn’t take care of the situation by herself. She picked up Martha and put her on the couch. Then she called her mother. When her mother came to the phone Alia sounded so scared, she told her mother what happened. Her mother said she’d be right home. She worked at a clinic just ten minutes away. Those ten minutes seemed forever to Alia. She didn’t know what to do except to try to hold Martha. Martha wouldn’t let her touch her arm, and she kept crying. Mary had run to her room. Alia couldn’t worry about Mary.

When their mother came, she took one look at Martha, and said, “She has to go to the emergency room. Her arm might be broken.” They carried her to the car. “Where’s Mary?” She asked. “She’s up in her room,” Alia said. “You go get her and tell her to get her behind in the car right now. We’ve got to go. This girl is in a lot of pain.” Alia brought Mary crying and snotty faced to the car. They went to the emergency room. “I’ll call your dad after we see the Dr.”

They did not get back home from the hospital until after midnight. Their father had met them there. He also had to leave work early. He carried a very sleepy Martha in the house and put her in the bed. Her right arm was in a cast. She looked pale. Mary was sleepy too, and she looked very scared. Alia looked very upset, and her parents were very tired. Her mother had to leave their baby brother at their grandmother’s house. “Don’t worry about him,” their grandmother told their mother. “He’s asleep. You just see about Martha.” Their father and mother looked at Mary, “just go on to sleep. We’re going to talk about this in the morning.” Mary was tired and scared. But she was not looking forward to the morning.

The next morning the twin’s mother called them to breakfast. She was usually rushing around to get ready for work. Alia sat at the table picking at her oatmeal. The atmosphere was tense. Martha said her arm hurt and her mother gave her some medicine for pain. “What happened?” their mother asked. The girls looked at each other. Alia looked down at her plate. “Well we were arguing…” Martha whispered.

“I’m sorry, Martha…” Mary began to cry. “Did you push your sister?” their mother asked Mary in a fierce voice. “I, I…”began Mary. “She didn’t push me”, Martha said. She couldn’t let her mother think that about Mary. “We were fighting, and I tripped”. “And where were you when all of this was going one?” their mother turned to Alia. “I’m so sorry Mom, I know you depend on me. It’s all my fault! I was cooking dinner, and listening to music and I didn’t hear them until Martha fell.” Alia clearly blamed herself for the whole thing. “Alia, the most important thing that I need you to do is to watch your sisters until I come home from work. Keep the music down until me or your father comes home. But I don’t blame you at all. The same thing could have happened if I was here with them. Your sister is going to be ok. I know all that you do to help me. You better get ready for school. I’m taking off of work a few days.” Alia went upstairs to get dressed still obviously feeling bad. “Now you two, what were you arguing about? Start from the beginning”. Martha started telling her mother about her torn picture and what Mary said about her, and Mary told her about the missing ball. “First of all, you girls jump to too many conclusions. Mary did not tear up that picture. You all left the door to your room open and KJ got to it before I could stop him. It was such a nice picture I didn’t want to throw it away so I left it on your bed. I was planning to tell you about it but I forgot.” Martha’s eyes grew big and round. She looked at Mary and then looked down at her arm. “And Mary, why did you assume that Martha had anything to do with your ball? Did you see her with it?” Mary said “No ma’am” in a little voice and looked ashamed. “Do you know what happened to her ball?” she asked Martha. Martha couldn’t lie to her mother’s face. “Yes, ma’am, I threw it away.” “You should be ashamed of yourself. You took your sister’s property, something you knew she loved, something your father paid good money for. You girls are something else! I am sick, and tired of all of the bickering and fighting! Look at what happened. You have a broken arm! It could have been worse! You could have a broken neck!” Their mother paused for breath. She was more angry at them than she had ever been before. She got up from the table and walked around for a few minutes. “You two don’t like your names? Maybe I should have named you Cain and Abel!” The girls looked at each other and then at the floor. They both started to cry again. “Just be quiet and go to your room, and I better not hear a word from either one of you! I have some thinking to do.”

When they went to their rooms the girls didn’t say one thing to each other. They each lay down and fell asleep.

That afternoon their mother came to their room and woke them up. “I’ve decided what we are going to do. You two need to learn to get along. You are so different and you think everybody is better than you. You’re both jealous of each other. It’s the silliest thing. God didn’t make everybody alike. I wouldn’t want you to be clones of each other. You’re both good at different things. Things can be different and still be just as good. It’s like cheeseburgers and French fries. Those two things are very different but you love both of them the same. You need to pay attention in church when Pastor John preaches his sermons. He talked about this very thing. God gave everyone in the church a job. Everybody’s job is different. Pastor John is the minister, he preaches wonderful sermons. Sister Janet plays the organ and the piano. Sometimes Alia plays the piano. I help teach the Sabbath school class, and your Dad operates the equipment. Mary you know how helpful you are with the babies in the nursery, Sister Sarah always tells me that, and Martha, when Brother Daniel gets you to sing, I think you have the most beautiful voice in the church. God didn’t want only one or two people to do everything or to be everything. We have to all work together. Did you know that God the Father decided that you were going to be who you are before he created the earth? He wrote your name and everything about you in the book of life. He made Mary fast and athletic, funny and friendly with beautiful brown skin and thick black hair and almond shaped eyes like her father. And he made Martha smart and creative, a little shy, with a beautiful singing voice and a face like my wonderful mother. I know you don’t like the gap in your teeth. We can fix it later if you want, but your grandmother was a wise and beautiful woman, and you look just like her. We have to learn to love and appreciate ourselves, in order to love and appreciate each other. Now if God the Father made you who you are, who are you to argue with him?”

They just continued to look at their mother but she could tell they were thinking. The way she said it, it wasn’t so bad being them. “Mary, I’m sorry I threw away your ball,” Martha said. “And I’m real sorry you broke your arm.” Mary told Martha. “That’s nice girls,” their mother responded. “But I’m afraid sorry is not good enough! Martha you stole, and stealing is against the law of God and the law of the land. And Mary, you always play with your friends and make fun of Martha. You make her feel bad, as if no one likes her. Both of you are to blame. When you

do wrong there are consequences to your actions! Mary, you’re going to help Martha do her homework because she can’t use her right hand. And also you have to do her chores until she gets better. Martha, the money that you were saving for a new cd you’re going to use to buy a new baseball for your sister. And also I think that a broken arm, and the pain you feel will be a good reminder for you to never steal and to never fight your sister. I expect you both to begin to be more helpful at home. Martha, you are really good at math so you’re going to help your sister with her math homework. When that cast comes off in six weeks, you will have to spend time with each other playing ball and playing other games. If you can’t play with your sister you’re not going to play with your friends. You may never be able to play as well as your sister, but she can show you how to do better, and you can also learn people skills. No more hiding out in your room, Martha. And I want both of you girls to spend more time with KJ. Alia shouldn’t have to always babysit by herself. Sometimes she’d like to do her own thing.”

The girls thought all of this through. It could have been worse. They hadn’t gotten a spanking for almost a year. A spanking might have been better, but they guessed that what happened was too bad for just a spanking, and then they were getting a lot older. It also would have been worse if their father had talked to them first. They hated to see the look on his face when they disappointed him. He always acted like they were so great, like it was such a wonderful thing to have twin daughters. It was amazing to think that God had created them to be who they were on purpose. They believed in what their parents taught them about God. Sometimes they forgot to act like it. What was worse was if they had disappointed God.

Eventually the cast came off. And finally Mary didn’t have to do chores for both of them, though sometimes Alia would help her with them. The Dr said that playing catch would help strengthen Martha’s arm, and with time she began to play a lot better. If any of Mary’s friends didn’t want to play with Martha, Mary said she wouldn’t play either, and since she was the best, they all began to play better together. With Martha’s help Mary made a B+ in math, which was her best math grade ever. They both took turns playing with KJ, while Alia talked on the phone or did her homework. Eventually they became very good friends. And just like friends, sometimes they didn’t agree and sometimes they were angry at each other, but it was never like before. Martha cheered Mary on with her sports, and

sometimes even watched the games with their Dad. Mary always encouraged Martha to sing at church. By learning to love themselves, they learned to love each other. And they learned to appreciate their parents and older sister and to be loving and protective of their baby brother. They were still very different. But it’s OK to be different. That’s how God made everybody.