The Scripture ~ Base your happiness on your hope in Christ. Romans 12:12a
The Spiritual Focus ~ What a happy and holy fashion it is that those who love one another should rest on the same pillow. ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Devotion ~ This past weekend at Yogadevotion’s spring retreat a conversation ensued among participants about the title of the retreat…Happy AND Holy. The idea that one could be happy and holy was at the center of the conversation. Happiness as a faithful follower of the ways of Jesus was not hard to visualize but many struggled to see holiness as part of our interior story. God is holy, Jesus is holy, the Spirit is holy, but do we see ourselves as holy?
It seems in attempts to understand certain concepts we must create an either/ or narrative. Us or them, in or out, happy or holy. This is a false dichotomy. In fact, Jesus taught just the opposite. There is no other, there is only love. When we are able to look through the lens of love we see no other, all are truly welcome and we are both happy and holy.
One of the best things going on in the yoga world right now is the idea that yoga is for EVERYbody. It always has been that way but it has taken a while for EVERYbody to embrace it as truth. You may hear a mantra in Yogadevotion classes that goes like this, “modifications in asana are not better or lesser but doing the same pose, differently. Chair yoga is for EVERY body, adaptive yoga, a powerful practice.
The interconnectedness of happiness and holiness is a faith practice that we practice on our mats. When we connect with God’s Holy Spirit, draw on the love so freely given and share that love into the world as happy AND holy people we change the narratives that divides us.
Breath Prayer
Inhale ~ I Am
Exhale ~ Happy AND Holy
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