I cannot eloquently write.
I don’t consider myself to be a wordsmith.
Nor do I consider it my job here to produce a
piece of art in the form of writing.
My
job as I see it is to inform on the subject of how I find Christianity in my
life as a yoga therapist; Or how do I rectify these two things that to many
seem like opposites. My comments on the scripture readings will be below the
reading as usual.
I have no words for the events of this past week. So, I will let a friend and member of my
church, Spencer Musick, speak through his sermon that begins at minute 29 here…
https://youtu.be/EhXkI7C2bTc
Readings for the Baptism of Jesus
Collect of the Day
Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the
River Jordan proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy
Spirit: Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant
they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior; who with you and the
Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
Genesis 1:1-5
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the
earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the
face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.
Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God
saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the
darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there
was evening and there was morning, the first day.
Psalm 29
1 Ascribe to the Lord, you gods, * ascribe to the Lord glory
and strength.
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his Name; * worship the
Lord in the beauty of holiness.
3 The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God
of glory thunders; * the Lord is upon the mighty waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is a powerful voice; * the voice of
the Lord is a voice of splendor.
5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedar trees; * the Lord
breaks the cedars of Lebanon;
6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, * and Mount
Hermon like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the Lord splits the flames of fire; the
voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; * the Lord shakes the wilderness
of Kadesh.
8 The voice of the Lord makes the oak trees writhe * and
strips the forests bare.
9 And in the temple of the Lord* all are crying, “Glory!”
10 The Lord sits enthroned above the flood; * the
Lord sits enthroned as King for evermore.
11 The Lord shall give strength to his people; * the Lord
shall give his people the blessing of peace.
Acts 19:1-7
While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the
interior regions and came to Ephesus, where he found some disciples. He said to
them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” They
replied, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” Then
he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They answered, “Into John’s
baptism.” Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the
people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.” On
hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul had
laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke
in tongues and prophesied—altogether there were about twelve of them.
Mark 1:4-11
John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness,
proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people
from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going
out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing
their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around
his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, “The one who is
more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and
untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he
will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” In those days Jesus came from
Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was
coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit
descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son,
the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Christ’s baptism has always felt very elemental to me. And by
that I mean there is water present in the river, earth in the mud Christ stood
in, and fire-air-ether as the Holy Spirit came down. If you look through the
tags on the left of the blog for “Holy Spirit” or “Gross Element” you will
find two earlier entries that also comment on this. I find it interesting that they are from Ascension
and Pentecost, whereas today we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus. They serve as bookends of his ministry,
beginning and ending in God the Holy Spirit.
Elements are present in yoga as well. In a class we may focus on grounding into the
earth or expanding through our air, ether, or breath. There are practices that build heat or fire. We
often sweat out water.
In yoga’s sister practice of Ayurveda, or Indian Medicine,
these elements are a focus. One can
learn their body (physical and emotional) type via the three Doshas: Vata (space
[ether] air), Pitta (fire water) or Kapha (water earth) and all the possible
combinations of these. I am Pitta –
Kapha. The ultimate is to be
tri-dosha. Here is a quiz to learn more
about your own dosha: https://www.banyanbotanicals.com/info/dosha-quiz
.
People are different. Certainly, our Doshas are all
different, but all people are necessary. People are to be respected. Decorum is
important. We don’t have to agree. As we begin this new year let us renew our
baptism in the hope of a brighter future.
Picture from: https://kayrice.com/3284/daily-cycles-and-the-doshas/
