“So Jesus told all the people to sit down on the ground.”

Like so many, I have been on daily Zoom calls for so long now I didn’t think there was anything new to learn about how to best operate in a digital meeting.  That was until I heard the ground rules of a recent session and one of the expectations (not just a suggestion) was to “Take Space and Make Space”.  It’s great advice and I don’t know that I had ever heard the same in a real life in-presence meeting.  Sure, I’d heard, “We expect everyone to participate and contribute” and “It’s important that everyone gets a chance to speak up and participate”, but I’d never heard such a specific direction as “we expect everyone to take space and make space.”  It was great, because so many times in order to participate or speak we will wait for permission or a “natural” moment to step in.  But, the idea that we are expected to “take space” was very freeing and empowering.  And, the consideration of others to “make space” seemed so good to do that it was comfortable to be quiet.  Yes, it’s okay to take our space, but only in consideration that in order for others to do so too, we have to make space.

Jesus came to occupy and embody the space between us and God. He filled in the emptiness.  But, He also asked us to take up his cross.  Even as Jesus taught us with Parables and in the environments that he chose to sit the people in spaces to learn and experience Him, we can see that He gave us space to choose and space to take from Him to become His followers.  We are to make space for Him in our hearts and lives, but how actively are we taking that space and making all that He wants us to do?  Our faith, like Jesus is not passive.  To be so with our faith is to miss out on all the space that is left for us to receive from Him.

Reference: Galatians 4:3 (New Living Translation)