The Scripture ~ “And thus you shall greet: ‘Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have.” 1st Samuel 25:6
The Spiritual Focus ~ “ One of the marvelous things about community is that it enables us to welcome and help people in a way we couldn’t as individuals.” Jean Vanier Founder and CEO of L’Arche
Breath Prayer ~ I AM welcome, All are welcome
The Devotion ~
Welcome! We welcome you if you are new to Yogadevotion. We welcome you if you are returning to your practice of integrating faith and yoga through Yogadevotion. We welcome you to community, a community exploring faith and spirituality though the practice of Yogadevotion.
This year we at Yogadevotion will be exploring the practice of being in community. How does our faith, spirituality and yoga practice inform us in ways that we follow the teachings of Jesus that lead us to be in community, in community with God and each other through the Holy Breath.
The story behind our scripture is a story of David the shepherd, not yet king, reminding a neighboring farmer that he had welcomed his shepherds and hoped for the same kind of welcome for David’s shepherds. The welcome is one of peace for all, in a reciprocal situation.
Our spiritual focus from Jean Vanier is about the welcoming community he has created called ‘L’Arche,’ for people with varying intellectual abilities. Vanier holds that welcoming is the first move to establishing a caring community, an inclusive community that fosters well being for all.
Jesus was emphatic that we are to welcome all and in welcoming the stranger we are welcoming Jesus himself, thereby welcoming the presence of God. Welcoming and becoming aware of God’s presence personally on our mat (in our chair) and in community, seeing God’s activity in our lives and the lives of our neighbors gives us a true picture of what Jesus is talking about when he speaks of the kingdom of God.
Today/tonight we welcome you just as you are, all joys, fears and sorrows, and everything in between because we are a community that believes in the narrative of Jesus that leads us to bring our whole selves ….body, mind and spirit…into community for the sake of a relationship with the One who created us for relationship.
