Making Space for the Rabbi

Today is likely to be a busy day on my blog – not because of those who read it but primarily because I am going away for a couple of days tomorrow and there is so much that I want to post before that – including book reviews, thoughts on Jimmy Carter’s statement about leaving the Southern Baptist Convention and not surprisingly thoughts from an overflowing and abundant garden.  I also plan to upload some of the wonderful posts I have received in the last couple of days to be published while I am away so hopefully those of you that visit here regularly will not be disappointed.

Today’s contribution for What is a Spiritual Practice, is from Stan Thornburg, Quaker pastor at a small church in the Willamette Valley of Western Oregon.  Stan blogs at Born to Eat Toast I hope that you enjoy this post as much as I did.

I remember bitching and moaning to Richard Foster about the disadvantage of being 2,000 years too late to actually follow Christ in the same way as “The Twelve” did. For me trying to actually be a disciple of someone behind the cloud of unknowing didn’t seem fair. The Twelve could actually see Jesus in action, ask him about what was going on, complain to him and each other about it, discuss it around the campfire, scribble pithy notes to be someday inserted in their gospels, etc. “We’re at a great disadvantage!” I whined. Richard said something like, “Maybe you’re just too focused on yourself and what you are doing to notice what Jesus is doing. Give Jesus a chance to act before barging in asking WWJD?” A bit of reflection revealed that no one really has a clue what Jesus would do in any given situation anyway, and to ask that question, at least for me, is an exercise in futility and/or arrogance.  Read the entire article