Another World

As we continue to move towards Epiphany, the challenge is learning to take the next right step while also being able to pay close enough attention to another world hidden right here within this one.

Eleventh century rabbi, Rashi, is legendary for his impact on the Jewish understanding of scripture. And yet, it wasn’t that he taught how to dig deeper, but rather he led people to do again what they hadn’t done since they were children: pay close attention to the obvious. When you look closely for a long time, you discover things that are invisible to others. The key is to pay attention to the obvious.

From here we sit under the tutelage of Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, as he reflects on the ancient story of Moses and the bush engulfed in flames. We tend to view the story as a miracle that God performs to get Moses’ attention. Rabbi Kushner invites us to “Look more closely at the process of combustion. How long would you have to watch wood burn before you could know whether or not it actually was being consumed? Even dry kindling wood is not burned up for several minutes.”

Moses would have to watch this bush that was on fire for several minutes before determining that it was not being consumed. “When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush.”

When I was in the desert in Israel, our guide pointed out how the excessive heat combined with the blustery wind would spark small bush fires from time to time. This was not as rare as people commonly think.

Rabbi Kushner suggests that the “burning bush” was not a miracle. It was a test. “God wanted to find out whether or not Moses could pay attention to something for more than a few minutes. When Moses did, God spoke.”

The invitation is to pay attention to what is going on around you long enough to behold the miracle that has been present the entire time.

There is another world, right here within this one, whenever we pay attention.

There are burning bushes all around us, the trick is to pay attention. For many of us it means keeping the phone in our pocket or leaving it in the other room for larger chunks of time.

Oh that we would (re)train our brain to first ask, “What’s here?” before we ask, “What’s next?”

Bush in the Sinai desert.