Scripture ~ “The health of the apple tells the health of the tree. You must begin with your own life-giving lives. It’s who you are, not what you say and do, that counts. Your true being brims over into true words and deeds.” Luke 6:43-45 The Message
Spiritual Focus ~ “Yoga is not a workout; it is a work in.” Rolf Gates, yoga teacher, former US ranger, social worker, author of Meditations on the Mat
Breath Prayer ~ Inhale ~ One Path, Exhale ~ Love
Devotion ~ Many of us have grown up with the adage: “Practice makes perfect”, the idea of doing something again and again to improve or master it. Once we’ve accomplished it, we can move on to something else. However, the idea of practice on a journey of love and in yoga is quite different. Practice is intended to be a way of life; an infinite, continuous action with the sole purpose of living a life of love.
Healthy apples come from healthy trees. Jesus uses this metaphor to explain that a healthy life comes as a result of us having been created in the image of God and not from our words nor actions. Our true being is a natural outpouring of who God intended us to be. It is an authentic practice rooted in God’s life-giving love.
Many churches and spiritual communities nurture this teaching, however, sometimes the idea gets twisted, evolving to a point where the purpose of the practice is to win God’s favor through our actions and, thus, it becomes an obligation rather than an authentic desire to practice. Similarly, in a yoga practice that focuses only on asana, or postures, we might strive to achieve a “perfect” pose, as though the end result is the purpose of our efforts. This kind of thinking devalues the discipline and benefits of a practice for the purpose of practicing. It also misses the opportunity to learn and grow in the continuous process of becoming who we are. As Rolf Gates says, “This is the point of spiritual practice; to make us teachable, to open up our hearts and focus our awareness so that we can know what we already know and be who we already are.” This practice is what grounds us in living a healthy life on the journey of love.
