Red Fox, Olympia, WA USA
I look around. It is the Sabbath but this is no ordinary Sabbath. A commotion is in the air, despite little being said. The great healer, the carpenter turned rabbi, is in town and will soon be in the synagogue. He will be teaching. It is said when he teaches he talks directly to a person’s soul. Some have said that he seems to know their hearts and minds better than they themselves do. I look over, the leaders are jockeying for position, taking all the seats of honor, leaving no room for the carpenter. Others in the synagogue do not want the carpenter to sit by them so they bury themselves in the crowd. Perhaps they are afraid of him, or perhaps more accurately, they are afraid of what he might compel them to do – to look inside themselves and change. But I am hopeful. I sit on my empty bench in anticipation of the carpenter’s arrival. I hope that he will sit with me. I hope that I might leave the synagogue, this day, closer to God.
My son took this photo of a fox sitting on a bench. It was as if the fox was anxiously waiting for someone to join him and I thought of this possible synagogue scene from Jesus’s three years of public ministry.
In the bible, Jesus is mentioned as sitting down numerous times and in just about every instance he is sitting down with people to teach them the ways of the Kingdom of God, or to heal them from their infirmities, or to forgive them for their sins. Jesus is with us today. Jesus wants to heal us, and teach us, and forgive us. Jesus is anxiously waiting to sit and be with each of us. In our hearts and minds. Teaching us his ways. We just need to learn from this fox and leave some room for him to “sit” with us.
#anaturewalkwithGod #RoomForJesus