Jesus and Galilee

Acts 2:1-13

When the day of Pentecost had come, the disciples were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs-- in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power." All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" But others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine."

John 15:26-27, 16:4b-15

Jesus said to his disciples,” When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning. “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.

And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason, I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

 

I have a strange mantra that I sometimes say to myself: “Jesus and Galilee.” This mantra has always represented the times in my life when I have realized that you just can’t go home. Sometimes when working in a new field, the people that have known you the longest continue to look at you through the lens they had of you as a younger, less experienced person. Sometimes these are the hardest people to convince of your newfound knowledge and usefulness. 

It is those that often love us that want us to always remain that same person they fell in love with so long ago.  Our parents, spouses, siblings, childhood friends, children, and early colleagues sometimes do not recognize growth.  This happened to Jesus when he first returned to Galilee.  People thought of him as a young child that ran off to the temple.  They are doing the same with the disciples today on Pentecost.  Sometimes you have to leave home to make a new start with new people that are not judgmental based on your past, as the disciples did moving forward with their preaching.  In the Episcopal church those entering clergy must leave their home parishes for this reason.

To me this is an overlooked part of Pentecost.  Sometimes others don’t see what is obvious growth.  Sometimes we don’t see the obvious growth either. Sometimes space is needed. This ‘Spirit of Truth’ is there waiting to be discovered but sometimes it takes time.

My story of call was mystical.  I was walking on a labyrinth at the Episcopal summer camp I attended as a child.  I was there six years ago as a presenter at a Daughter’s of the King (women’s) retreat. I presented yoga, mainly in chairs, for this mixed age group.  It was well received. At the conclusion of the retreat, I took a little time for myself to walk the newly installed labyrinth.  I was wearing a red scarf and it was very windy on that day. I walked and thought about my life. At one point I took a hairpin turn in the labyrinth and my scarf blew off one side and land on me in the configuration of a deacon’s stole. At the time I took this to mean I was being called to the clergy.  But after much personal discernment, or Svādhyāya, and further discernment with my parish it was decided that clergy was not my call.  Instead, I was called to be the best yoga therapist I could be.  I didn’t see my own obvious growth, what I had just done at the retreat, and my own Spirit of Truth.  My own personal Galilee blinded me to the truth of my life.  I have continued this journey as a yoga therapist but sometimes I still have moments of Galatian blindness to my own abilities, and the abilities of others.  As well as experiencing this unrecognized growth when others that have known me a long time look at me through a lens I’ve outgrown. All we can do at these times is recognize what is happening and find compassion. Then maybe we can move forward in a way that serves us best.

Image © Lars Justinen at Goodsalt.com

 

Taking up the Cross

  

Mark 8:31-38

Jesus began to teach his disciples that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Taking up our own individual crosses is very unique for each person.   A few years ago I did not fully understand this. I felt a strong Christian call and went through a process of first personal discernment, and then public discernment within my home parish.  The end result was clarity about my call, but it was not to clergy. It was a call to continue my work as a Yoga Therapist.

This call, on first blush, doesn't sound very Christian.  However, when I look at the work I do, have done, it actually is Christian. My call, in very specific terms, is not just to Yoga Therapy, it is to Integrative Health in a rural community.  I have sacrificed thousands of dollars in income I could have made establishing myself in a nearby larger city. I have put the health of my beloved city, Rome, Georgia above my own gain. This is my cross.

I work in an often misunderstood field. Many think I simply lead yoga classes, which I do do, but the truth is I do so much more. I have at least 1800 hours more training than an entry level yoga teacher, including an Accredited Master’s Degree in Yoga Therapy. I have lead classes for individuals that have a common issue. Right now, mainly yoga classes for the aging and those with behavioral health issues, secondarily yoga classes for young adults transitioning into full adult life. I have worked with particular disease groups such as Breast Cancer, Parkinson's Disease, Arthritis, and Alzheimer's Disease. I have worked with those at the end of life. I have worked to help Families in my town understand the Integrative Health options available to them. I have done this as a volunteer, as a paid employee, and as a consultant. I have supported and promoted other forms of Integrative Health serving on a committee at a local hospital to promote this, and starting an Integrative practice with those working in other modalities.  I have taught yoga at my church and still teach at a Catholic Charity.  I started a non-profit that provided yoga by donation to the citizens of my town. I'm not sure how I could find the time to add clergy to this list. And that is okay.

My work is Christian. My self-study, Svadhyaya, through my work, and surrender, Ishvara Pranidhana, of my work to a higher power is  completely based in a Christian philosophy for living, as well as the Yoga 10 Commandments,  the Yamas and Niyamas, of which self-study and surrender are a part. I take up my cross with love, and I lift it high.

"And now, Father, send us out to do the work you have given us to do, to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord. To him, to you, and to the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen."  -BCP Post Communion Prayer

Episcopal Hymn 643 Lyrics to "Lift High The Cross" the hymn of the Order of the Daughters of the King, of which I am a fourth generation member:

Refrain.
Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim
till all the world adore his sacred name.

1. Come, Christians, follow where the Master trod,
our King victorious, Christ the Son of God.
   refrain
2. Led on their way by this triumphant sign,
the hosts of God in conquering ranks combine.
   refrain
3. Each newborn servant of the Crucified
bears on the brow the seal of him who died.
   refrain
4. O Lord, once lifted on the glorious tree,
your death has brought us life eternally.
   refrain
5. So shall our song of triumph ever be:
praise to the Crucified for victory!
   refrain

 

Photo in public domain by Petr Kratochvil

 

Reaping the Weeds of Judgement via Svadhyaya

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Another parable Jesus put before the crowds: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’” Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!”

When I started this blog, its intention was to explore the intersection of Yoga and Christianity, both in my life and in the philosophy of yoga. This is one of those passages that screams to me on a personal level but also has depth when explored through yoga philosophy.

For myself, this passage gives me hope that all are acceptable to God provided evil (the weed) does not win.  It is not my job to judge it is simply my job and yours to do our best in this world, and to be open to others. Even if I do not agree, the ultimate judge is God. I get hope from this for everyone that does not consider themselves to be a Christian like me; what I mean by that is whatever Christianity or non-Christianity means to all the other people in the world. None of us have the job of judging each other.  Our only job is to love and accept others with openness.  You may think that another is evil, but perhaps God does not view them that way. Or perhaps they make a big life change late in their life. For myself, I know there are those that judge me for my style of Christianity, with Buddhist and yoga philosophy notes; I am comforted by the fact that other’s opinions do not matter, only that of God does. I simply do the best I can and follow the Ten Commandments/ Yamas and Niyamas and hopefully all will be well in the end.

On a philosophical level the Niyama – Svadhyaya, or self-study, comes to mind. Deborah Adele, in her book The Yamas & Niyamas, breaks this Niyama into parts of how to study the self. 1. Projections where everything we think is a projection of our experience in the world. 2. Tracing it [projections] Back to our origins and how they formed our beliefs. 3 Then We can’t be afraid to look at the disharmony these beliefs and projections may have caused in our life and to make a shift where needed. 4. The role of the ego sometimes we get stuck in the “I” and make our belief and projections our model of reality. If everyone is stuck in ego, then there are as many versions of reality as there are people. 5. The Power of the Witness allows us to step back from the ego without trying to change, fix, or judge anything.  Simply be, leave the judging to God (See where I am going? Read Matthew again). For me I can move into witnessing via my meditation form called iRest.  It is not a quiet sit Zen and stop the thoughts.  It is more a processing system for the thoughts, feeling, emotions that brings these back to the body or somatic feelings we hold our whole lives.  Recognizing these feelings allows one find harmony with them and not judge them, be with them, respond verses react to them. Now no one is perfect, I, myself have a high “J” in the Myers Briggs!  But constantly returning to this place of witnessing, recognizing the sensations in the body, noticing without judging takes the power away from my judgements. I leave the judging to God.

This year has been really hard, am I judging? Maybe. But perhaps if we all could move into a place of no judgement of others, leaving that to God, recognizing that our experience of this world is completely different from the others around us, leading with compassion and love, then perhaps we can find our way to the end of the year in peace/ Shanti.

Namaste (the good in me honors the good in you – without judgement)

Photo from: https://www.dqhall59.com/israelphotosIV/wheatandtares.htm

Deborah Adele, The Yamas & Niyamas Exploring Yoga’s Ethical Practice, 2009.