Sunday January 17, 2016
The Scripture ~ On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” Jesus mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
John 2:1-3, 5
The Spiritual Focus ~ “Abundance is not something we acquire, it is something we tune into.” Wayne Dyer
The Devotion ~ Sitting around a table with a cup of coffee, a conversation broke out among friends about how much is enough. The question was promoted by one of the guys at the table who planned to work forever, because he didn’t think he’d ever have enough to feel comfortable retiring. As his story unfolded it was clear that he had lived with little, at some point in his life and never wanted to go back there. There was no amount of money that would make him feel secure, he had something called, an abundance block. He could not tune into the abundance that was all around him.
While this man’s story revolved around financial abundance, abundance is not so easily limited to the idea of having enough money. Abundance is defined as being aware having ‘more than enough”, seeing all that we have as a gift from God and being content with it.
In the story of the wedding at Cana, we often focus on Jesus first miracle, the abundance of fine wine that was produced miraculously from plain water. But when we tune into the rest of the story, we see abundance appear in other places. We see abundance in Mary’s radical hospitality. The mother of Jesus steps up and does something to change the outcome of what would have been a disaster for the wedding party, running out of wine. We see the abundance of faith Mary had in her son to do something. And, of course we see Jesus respond abundantly, providing more than enough wine, the finest wine, for all the guests.
In the yoga world we have a something called santosha, or the practice of contentment, being content with what we have as enough. The yoga world has tapped into the idea that it is not about how much we have but how we are tuned into what we have as enough and appreciating it. Both the faith and yoga world go a step further in saying it is not just about what WE have but how we share what we have.
When we are tuned into Gods abundant nature that surrounds us through our faith and yoga practices we understand abundance as something to share. Sharing our abundance in whatever form it takes with our neighbor increases our contentment and theirs. When we tune into the abundance that God surrounds us with, we will be content and that will reflect off the mat and into the world that God loves so much.
Breath Prayer
Inhale ~ I AM
Exhale ~ Content
or
Inhale ~ I Live
Exhale ~ abundantly
