"The Sons of Martha" is a poem written by

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

. It is inspired by the biblical story of

Jesus at the home of Martha and Mary Jesus at the home of Martha and Mary (also referred to as Christ in the House of Martha and by other variant names) refers to a Biblical episode in the life of Jesus in the New Testament which appears only in Luke's Gospel (), immediately after th ...

. It celebrates the care and dedication of workers–engineers, mechanics, and builders–to provide for the safety and comfort of others. "The Sons of Martha" was written in 1907 and was adopted by the author in 1922 to be part of the

Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer is a private ritual, authored by Rudyard Kipling, in which students about to graduate from an engineering program at a university in Canada are permitted to participate. Participation may also be permit ...

performed by Canadian engineers at their graduation. In the Bible story,

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...

visits a home where two sisters,

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

and

Martha Martha (Hebrew: מָרְתָא‎) is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of Luke and John. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is described as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem. She was witness to ...

, live. Mary sits at the visitor's feet to listen to him while Martha races about attending to the hospitality until her patience runs out, and Martha calls on Jesus to direct Mary to help her. Jesus chides Martha for her mundane concerns and tells her: "Mary has chosen what is better".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sons of Martha Poetry by Rudyard Kipling 1907 poems