The Same Sun Melts the Wax but Hardens the Clay

When parents are not in the picture anymore; when children are left to fend for themselves earlier than usual, one can’t help but wonder if this is the great loss which might have molded Martha into a busy overachiever, a young woman propelled into the world of overwhelming adult responsibilities before her age? 

Did this loss make her the driven do-er determined to drown the emptiness left behind with endless activity…? It was all up to her to keep this family going..?

It makes me wonder whether young Mary swung into the opposite direction, withdrawing from life into a self-protective shell?

While peering at her sister’s busyness from a peephole of despair she simply couldn’t see beyond the futility of all human endeavor when everything can be lost in a snap?

Why bother at all then?

And then, there is Lazarus.  

The young boy who became the object of both sisters single-hearted affection.  Drastically different as the girls may be, this is the focal point where Martha and Mary unite. Lazarus is their hope. The reason why they get out of bed in the morning. The stakeholder of their future. 

The one who must be protected from all harm lest…