Gleaning Truth at the Core

Focus on your center.” This phrase resounds in yoga classes across the nation. In Yoga, the Spirit and Practice of Moving into Stillness, Erich Schiffmann says, “When you experience yourself in stillness…you will experience the conflict-free, calm, dynamic peace of perfectly centered abundant life energy. This exquisite peace deep within you is actually the experience of God, life energy.” 

I’m sure Mr. Schiffmann and I would differ in a number of areas, but in my Christ-centered worldview this is a most powerful statement. He sees God as life energy. So do I. God, in fact created the world through his Word, Jesus. He holds the world together and sustains it. He breathes life into every living thing. He is, in fact, the life energy flowing through each of us. 

Now if this God, that created and sustains us, in whom we have our being, is the center of our life, then when we focus on our center, we focus on Him. We feel His strength at our core and we experience peace. 

Yoga teaches us to be still and quiet our minds. As we do, we will be able to focus on our Lord, our center. At times we may hear His voice, at times we’ll rehearse a Bible passage, and at 
times we’ll just be in His presence.

What a powerful way to rip ourselves from the chaos of our culture and strengthen our spirit—the center of our being. 

It’s also important to strengthen the core of our body. A practice of yoga builds balance, strength and flexibility, all originating at the core. Whether practicing yoga, T'ai Chi or some other form of exercise remember that any strength you have comes from God. Let physical movement be an opportunity for praise. 

If you choose a practice that incorporates non-Biblical, spiritual principles, be wise. Ask the Spirit of God to lead you in truth. Check what you’re learning against Scripture. Take what is true and separate it from untruth. In this way we glean truth in unexpected places and we are awed again by our God, surprised to discover He does not live exclusively in the little boxes of our making. 

”For I purpose not to strip thee of earthly ties and joys but I long to have thee give to Me the center of thy life that My blessing may flow out to the circumference.  For My Spirit moveth not from the circumference to the center, but from the center to the circumference.”

~Excerpt from Come Away My Beloved,

by Frances J. Roberts

Time: Friend or Foe

I'm learning the need to see time from a different perspective. So often time is my foe. I have plans for my life and there just doesn't seem to be enough time to accomplish them. Soon I realize a decade has gone by and I still haven't achieved my goal.

Since this is always the case, there must be a flaw in my perspective, my plan or my thinking in some way. Following the Movements of the Spirit, Henri Nouwen, teaches that we need to view time as kairos instead of chronos. Chronos is chronology, the events of our life connected by time over which we have no control. Kairos is an opportunity for a change of heart. Both are Greek words for time, but very different in concept. Kairos carries a more mystical sense, an awareness that defining, moments can break into the chronology of time at any point, or that every moment defines a life.

"Time needs to be converted from chronos to kairos...The spiritual life is a formation process in which time slowly loses its opaqueness and becomes transparent. To start seeing that the many events of our day, week, or year are not obstacles to a full and meaningful life, but the way to it, is a real experience of conversion. Once we discover that writing letters, attending classes, visiting friends, cooking food, and even doing the dishes are not a series of random activities but contain within themselves the transforming power of re-creation, we move from time lived as chronos to time lived as kairos (right time, the real moment, the opportunity for change, the chance of a lifetime). When our time becomes kairos, endless new possibilities and opportunities open up to our vision." ~Following the Movements of the Spirit.

I'm reminded again of the words by John Lenin, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."

Year after year we could be missing our real life by planning for another one that will never exist.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't have goals or make plans. We must. But, let us rethink the plans, make sure they're simple, doable, and embrace interruptions as opportunities to grow, change, even remold our plans. A good example is writing a novel. The author comes up with a good plot summary (chronological time line of events to happen in the character's life), but part way through the book, the author realizes that the character's life is going a different direction. Time to adjust the plot summary.

Lord, let me embrace time as a friend, welcoming the interruptions You allow, rather than fighting time as my arch enemy. Thank You for the gift of time that You've allotted for my life, may I live each moment pleasing you no matter what arises.

The Story Nature Tells

Jackson's Tree, photo by Joshua Thompson

 "We could do an immense service to our world if we would let nature heal, counsel, and teach again."

~Christensen and Laird (Henri Nouwen), "Spiritual Formation: following the Movements of the Spirit"

When we see nature as only something to be used, we miss the story it was created to tell. Even environmentalists can take nature for grantit when they hurry by a city park to get to their recycling rally. They may not notice the beauty and lessons of the old trees swaying above the playground equipment or the wildflowers trampled below the feet of dozens of children on a field day.

Spiritual Formation, based on Nouwen's teaching, goes on to say, "When we contemplate creation rather than manipulating it, we are able to see nature as a gift of God to be cherished and cared for." And I would add, "...to be learned from".

God created the plants for our nourishment and for our enjoyment (beauty). "Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food..." Genesis 2:9. We also learn that the leaves and other plants are for healing. We see the use of oil for healing in scripture again and again. By example, we learn from scripture that we can take life lessons and lessons about God from nature. 

God is referred to as our rock, our light and His voice is compared to thunder. Examples abound. But how did the psalmists and other writers come up with these comparisons?

They took time to meditate on aspects of nature.

I recently received a lesson from an old tree at a retreat center where our church leaders met for prayer. This is what I wrote:

Looking out the window at a very old tree, I notice deep grooves in the trunk, thick chunks of bark protruding and a deep hole in the bark at one place. It has been through so much history. I wonder about all the changes and things it has seen. I sense God say, "It's amazing what one can see or experience when he/she just stays in one place. Stay. Wait. Pray. Watch."