Counting the Omer: Christian Orthodoxy vs. Orthopraxy

I came upon a stray tweet from someone I follow, which lead me on a search that led to an interesting blog entry asking "Why don't Christians count the Omer?" Counting the Omer, if you don't know, is a Jewish tradition of counting the 50 days between Passover (the liberation from slavery) and the holiday, Shavu'ot, which commemorates the giving of the Torah to the people of Israel. If you don't know (I didn't,) Shavu'ot and Pentecost are on the same day. I find the parallels really fascinating. Passover - a celebration of liberation from slavery, and Shavu'ot, a celebration of God's giving of the Torah. Holy Week and Easter, the commemoration of Jesus' death and resurrection, and Pentecost, the commemoration of the coming of the Holy Spirit. Of course, it all makes a lot of sense. Jesus, and all of his earliest followers, were Jews, and lived and practiced that tradition. In my long knowledge of Jewish tradition (having grown up in Great Neck, and having had many Jewish friends over the years) and my early seminary days of learning about the Hebrew Bible, and studying Kabbalah, I have always been struck by what is (besides the obvious) the major difference between Christianity and Judaism - orthodoxy vs. orthopraxy. "The word orthodox, from Greek orthodoxos "having the right opinion," from orthos ("right, true, straight") + doxa ("opinion, praise", related to dokein, "thinking"), is typically used to mean adhering to the accepted or traditional and established faith, especially in religion." (From Wikipedia) "Orthopraxy is a term derived from Greek (ὀρθοπραξις) meaning "correct action/activity", and is a religion that places emphasis on conduct, both ethical and liturgical, as opposed to faith or grace etc.This contrasts with orthodoxy, emphasizing a correct belief, and ritualism, the use of rituals." (From Wikipedia) So why don't we, as Christians, Count the Omer? Of course, this is a huge theological question - why have we, in large part, completely substituted practice with belief? In some corners (not so small) of Christianity, it doesn't matter if you preach sinfulness of gays and lesbians while having gay sex (and repenting later,) beat your wife, focus on getting rich, or kill other human beings, as long as you believe what is considered "right" you're, in that way of thinking, going to heaven. And no manner of right action or practice, whether it be nonviolence, love, compassion or ritual or contemplation, matters, if you don't have the right beliefs. It seems really hard for me to imagine that the one, a Jew, who said things like "love your neighbor as yourself," and lived the life of radical compassion and love that He did, would think that made a whole lot of sense. Progressive Christians have begun the process of moving ourselves away from orthodoxy, but I do think sometimes we suffer some of the same symptoms. As long as people think like us, they get to be counted as part of us. Otherwise, they don't. I think Christians need a lot more orthopraxy and a lot less orthodoxy of all kinds. What's most important to me is how I behave, how I live, and how I live out, every day, my relationship with the One I call God. So from now until Shavu'ot/Pentecost, I'm Counting the Omer, in my own way.