I often listen to a podcast called Secular Buddhism by Noah Rasheta. It has been very informative, inspiring, helpful, and thought-provoking to me. As he has explained many Buddhist beliefs and teachings I have been amazed at how much they have given me fresh insight and perspective on Christian teachings that have been part of me for most of my life.
When I walked away from 32 years of being a pastor and began to question, rethink, and even reject many of the beliefs that had been core ones for me it was scary and confusing. One of the things that I struggled with was the question, “But what about how thoroughly I clung to those beliefs? Was it all just one huge waste of time?”
Then I heard Noah explain the Buddhist teaching of the raft.
There was a person who came to a large body of water. He needed to get to the other side but it was too far to swim. He set about constructing a raft and was able to use it to get to the other side of this body of water. Once he reached the other side, however, he was faced with a dilemma. What should he do with the raft? Should he abandon it? Or, should he drag it along with him for the rest of his journey? He came to see that the wise thing to do was to leave it behind. It had served a very useful purpose at the time he built it, but continuing to hang on to it would do nothing but wear him out on the rest of his journey.
This spoke to me a great deal. My Christian heritage and beliefs were a raft that served me very well at the time and got me through some very rough waters. But I finally arrived at a shore where they no longer carried me as they once had. It was time to get out of that raft, be grateful for how it had carried me for a time, and move on with the rest of my journey – discovering new and exciting ways of thinking and being.
I share this here because there may be those of you reading this who are struggling in a similar way. The beliefs and teachings that you have held tightly to for so long are no longer bringing the help and comfort they once did. They are beginning to strangle and suffocate you. What if it is no accident that you are reading this post at this time? What if this is coming to you at this time to help you let go of something that helped you through one period of your life but it will only drag you down and keep you from growing if you continue to cling to it? Maybe you do not have to give up your Christian faith and embrace another. But it may be time to radically revise what you hear Jesus telling you about what it means to be His follower.
Think about it.
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