Rabbi Lawrence Kushner writes:
The "burning bush" was not a miracle. It was a test. God wanted to find out whether Moses could pay attention to something for more than a few minutes. When Moses did, God spoke. The trick is to pay attention to what is going on around you long enough to behold the miracle without falling asleep. There is another world, right here within this one, when we pay attention.
Most religious traditions place "awareness," "attentiveness," and " being present" as central to spiritual practice. Whether it is praying, meditating, walking among the miracles of the natural world, or the revelation of the divine that we encounter in deep relationships with another we must be present and attentive "for more than a few minutes."
Ralph Waldo Emerson put it this way:
"These roses under my window make no reference to former roses or better ones; they are what they are . . . There is no time for them. There is simply the rose; it is perfect in every moment of its existence . . . But man postpones or remembers; he does not live in the present, but with reverted eye laments the past, or heedless of the riches that surround him, stands on tip toe to forsee the future. He cannot be happy and strong until he too lives with nature in the present."
We become aware by paying attention to that which is set before us by existence. We learn to pay attention by being present to this moment of time.
Overcoming colonialism through faith and action.
Thank you, Clyde! That was lovely.