There is a familiar Zen story of the disciple who goes to the master to learn the mysteries of the faith. The master says that first they must have some tea and he begins to pour the tea into the student’s cup. He keeps pouring until the cup overflows onto the table, down onto the ground.

"You are like this cup," the master says. "So filled up with your own opinions and ideas that there is no room for anything else."

To be a Christian is to travel the journey of discovery, always and ever open to new experiences, new ideas, new ways of encountering the ever-resurrecting love of God.

When we stop engaging in such openness, we stop engaging in God.

To be a Christian is to welcome others onto the journey and to celebrate their travels even when they venture into lands foreign to us. When we are so filled up with our own ideas and opinions, we are incapable of following Christ.