How chronic busyness reflects an inner misalignment—and why the still, imaginative state is the key to transformation
The world today seems to demand constant action. Whether it’s a blinking notification, a noisy calendar, or the quiet pressure to be more, do more, fix more—many of us live in a perpetual state of inner rush. Dr Libby Weaver even coined the term Rushing Woman’s Syndrome to describe the chronic, anxious striving especially common among women today: a nervous system stuck in overdrive, a subconscious gripped by pressure.
But this condition isn’t new. It’s not merely cultural—it’s symbolic. And it’s been recorded for centuries in the story of Martha and Mary, found in Luke 10:38–42.
The Two Sisters: A Tale of Inner Division
Martha invites Jesus into her home. But instead of resting in his presence, she becomes distracted by tasks, “full of care with much serving.” Meanwhile, her sister Mary simply sits at Jesus’ feet, listening. When Martha complains, Jesus replies gently:
“Martha, Martha, you are full of care and troubled about a number of things: Little is needed, or even one thing only: Mary has taken that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
— Luke 10:41–42, BBE
Neville Goddard taught that the Bible is not secular history, but psychological truth—that each character symbolises a state of consciousness. In this light, Martha represents a distracted subconscious, full of absorbed outer impressions, agitated by performance, driven by the senses. She is the part of us that labours in the outer world, unaware that all change first takes place within.
Mistress and Rebel: What Her Name Reveals
The symbolic richness of Martha’s character is deepened when we consider the Hebrew root of her name. Traditionally, Martha (מרתא) is interpreted to mean “mistress” or “lady of the house”—one who manages, oversees, and is responsible. But some sources also trace the root back to מרה (marah), meaning “rebellious” or “obstinate.”
Together, these two meanings paint a striking symbolic portrait:
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As mistress, Martha reflects the subconscious as the housekeeper of reality—the one managing impressions and shaping outcomes.
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But as rebellious, she also reveals that same subconscious resisting the inner voice of imagination, rebelling against stillness, and refusing surrender to the divine creative process.
She’s not malicious—just misled. Like many of us, Martha represents the tendency to feel responsible for everything, to fix rather than receive, to act rather than assume. She is the subconscious caught in a whirl of duty and distraction, rebelling against the simplicity of faith by clinging to effort and anxiety.
Invisible Load Syndrome: The Modern-Day Martha
Today, Invisible Load Syndrome is a term that resonates with many, particularly women. It refers to the mental burden of managing countless tasks, emotional responsibilities, and expectations—often unrecognised by others. This mental weight, while invisible to the outside world, affects one's inner state profoundly.
Key aspects of Invisible Load Syndrome include:
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Constantly juggling schedules, needs, and household logistics, trying to keep everything in order.
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Feeling a lack of support or resources, believing that one must carry the weight of it all.
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The emotional toll of being responsible for the wellbeing of others, while often neglecting one's own needs and creative desires.
This modern syndrome mirrors Martha’s symbolic role in the Bible. Her state of being “full of care” and overwhelmed by “many things” is the same as the burden of the invisible load. Her rebellion is not just against her inner peace, but against the very idea of resting in the stillness and creative imagination that could transform her life. The subconscious trapped in this pattern is forever busy, trying to prove worth, yet becoming exhausted and disconnected from the deeper creative power within.
Mary and the Still, Creative Subconscious
Mary represents the inner alignment with the wish fulfilled—the quiet, still, receptive state that listens to the voice of imagination. She reflects the subconscious properly impregnated with truth: restful, focused, and fully identified with the end.
Martha’s busyness is not evil. It’s symbolic of a consciousness that is easily led by outer facts. It’s the state of someone who prays, who believes perhaps, but who keeps checking the outer world for proof, and in doing so, keeps disturbing the soil. This is the person who repeats affirmations while mentally rehearsing failure. It’s the heart that means well but hasn’t yet surrendered to the stillness necessary to feel it done.
Mary, however, has turned within. She’s listening—not to a man sitting in a room, but to the Word in its mystical sense: the inner movement, the spiritual assumption, the I AM. She’s no longer distracted by appearances. She’s identified with fulfilment. This is the true prayer Neville describes: an internal act of union between the feeling and the subconscious.
And Jesus’ words seal it: “Mary has taken that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” What we assume to be true in feeling remains. The subconscious accepts and returns what is impressed upon it. Mary’s stillness is not passive. It’s powerful. It’s the condition necessary for manifestation.
A Symbol for Our Times
So when we speak of Rushing Woman’s Syndrome or Invisible Load Syndrome, we’re not just pointing to modern busyness—we’re pointing to Martha. To a subconscious distracted by the world, running on fear, rebelling against stillness, trying to earn through action what can only be received through assumption.
The solution is not to abandon tasks or real-world responsibilities. The solution is to recognise the power of the inner state—and to prioritise it. Just as Mary did.
Because imagination, when held in stillness and faith, becomes the womb of reality. The world is the outpicturing of what we are being inside. And nothing is more fruitful than a subconscious that rests in the fulfilled state.
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