Sunday January 3, 2016

The Scripture ~ So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without God’s unfolding grace. 2 Corinthians 4:16 

The Message 

Spiritual Focus ~ “Live as if you were to die tomorrow, learn as if you were to live forever.” Ghandi 

The Devotion ~ During the Great Depression, bathing was a luxury. The phrase, “don’t throw the baby out with the bath water,” was born out of the practice of every child sharing the same bath water with the parents and other children in the family, the last to bathe…. well, you get the idea. Because of the high value placed on water for bathing, it was this same generation that understood the value of freshening up. Freshening up was a way of preserving water while still feeling clean and renewed. Freshening up was a way of identifying what was still usable, what still added quality, and what was good and then letting go of what had served it’s purpose. 

In this New Year we have seen many invitations to let go of the old and usher in the new. This year however there has been a subtle difference, the invitations have come with a sensitivity to retaining the newness that has improved our quality of life while we continue to recognize new ways of living. This is a continuum of transformation that recognizes that we can remember and use the good without ruminating on the old. The newness spoken of in our scripture is not on a time continuum, the newness in our scripture is an act of God’s continued unfolding grace. The newness we are drawn to is a ‘freshening up’ of what God has done and continues is to do. 

In yoga we often say, “Let go of what no longer serves you.” This is to say, there are some old ways of thinking about life, faith, relationships even yoga that worked for us as we were learning but now it is time to freshen up. It is time to see the new things that are going on and things that will continue to go on, as God is not limited to time. In Yogadevotion we honor what God has done in our faith and yoga practice, while leaning into God’s continuing grace as it unfolds in our lives new and fresh for this day. 

Breath Prayer

Inhale ~ I AM 

Exhale ~ Refreshed