The Scripture Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” John 14:6a
The Spiritual Focus… The path of peace is the way of Jesus.
The Devotion
Have you ever been in a conversation where someone asks a question about your vision of some future event, you respond and they come back with a response that indicates they clearly did not understand your vision. For example, you might say I’d like to see more diversity in our school and the respondent says I’m against quotas! That is an example of jumping from one ditch to the other, going from one extreme or the other and completely missing the point.
Our scripture from John 14:6a often suffers from the same practice, and we miss the point. When Jesus says I Am the way, the truth and the life…he is speaking about the way he has taught us to live. One of the ways he taught us to live, that was radically different in his day as it is in ours, is to choose the path of peace.
At the ground zero prayer service several weeks ago all the major world religions were asked to prepare a meditation on peace. Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, B’ahi, Greek Orthodox, Christian, all came together and through their meditations proclaimed a path of peace as a way we are to live. The prayer service closed with the song, ” let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.” This familiar hymn has the power to remind us of the role we have in bringing peace to this world, the power to draw us out of the ditches we easily slip into and get us back on the path. Let there be peace reminds us that Jesus way of truth and life is through living as he taught, and he taught peace.
Let peace begin with us on our mats, in our homes, on the job, in the world. The path of peace that Jesus taught calls us to take the high road and avoid the ditches.
Breath Prayer
Inhale …let peace
Exhale …begin with me
Suggested poses…Straddle poses to triangle to horse stance
