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Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you… [Exodus 33:18-23]
The spirit of man, his conscious, is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inner depths of his heart. [Proverbs 20:27]
A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.” [Matthew 13:1-8]
One thing I didn’t anticipate struggling with in marriage were the vows - crazy, I know but hear me out. Till death do us part? Yes one hundy-p, till we’re old and grey and one of us goes first; I’ll even take it a step further: don’t even remarry James, I’ll haunt from beyond. Forsaking all others? Yes and amen! I will be your Beyoncé, you don’t need anyone else James. What’s yours is mine? Again, strong yes, you have a car and can drive: bless my life, please and thank you James. However what’s mine is yours? *proverbial crickets chirp, a dust bowl rolls across the barren wasteland of my un-sharing heart. Peak vow conflict in the Lainchbury household happens most in the kitchen and my inability to share (or throw away) leftovers. As well as in the bedroom. Keep your skirts on, it’s not going where you think it’s going. Our biggest most fraught fights happen over the duvet. Probably around 2am when I’m convinced James is hogging all the blankets and also creeping over to my side of my bed. This particular discord happened so often in fact that one night (in those God forsaken wee hours of the morning), James got out a tape measure and measured our bed. I now know that my half of the bed is exactly 27inches. Yup that moment happened in our marriage.
Yet as lockdown restrictions ease and my calendar gets busier and busier as the weeks go by, I don’t have this same sense of spatial awareness and tightfisted guarding when it comes to my time and my capacity. I repeat the same mistakes again and again: overfill my schedule, feel overwhelmed, push myself to breaking point and leave no room or margin. I read that Corrie ten Boom once said that if the devil can’t make you sin, he’ll make you busy. There’s truth in that. Both sin and busyness have the exact same effect—they cut off my connection to God, to other people, and my own soul.*
No surprises, God is never in a hurry. John Mark Comer says, “To walk with Jesus is to walk with a slow, unhurried pace. Hurry is the death of prayer”. Jesus himself, encourages me to stop and look at the flowers in the fields, notice the birds in the air [Matthew 6:26]. Note to self: I can’t really do this if I’m constantly frazzled through out my day. Pete Greig says that atheism is the religion of the busy and the agnostic. It takes time to sit down and figure out the meaning of life, go figure. Connection requires slowing down. The deep irony of all this is that quality time is my love language. I want to give people time and energy and yet the most important Person who should get my best quality time and energy, gets the tiny scraps of me. 5mins here, 30 second rushed prayer there, 10 second cry for help as I realise for the umteeth time I’ve left writing this week’s email until the last minute (again).
Our time is our life, and our attention is the doorway to our hearts.* I feel like I’ve potentially overshared a lot in this devotional already, (as well as over these last few weeks) so one more confession won’t do any harm right? I actually really properly got into yoga in an attempt to be more efficient. Here was a form of exercise that made time for reflection and spiritual connection. I could get a decent work out, move my body in fun new ways, grow in strength and flexibility (without having to feel bad for not beating my personal best or anything like that) and also really encounter the presence of God and feel my soul exhale in a way that was so life giving. Two birds, one stone, 45mins of my 24hr day: job done.
God has a funny way of showing up and giving me the thing that I need disguised as something else. I need to slow down, I need to allow my self a moment to catch up with myself. In his book “How To Pray: a simple guide for normal people” Pete Greig says that in order to hear from God, we need to slow down and soften up; the latter precedes the former. To restate: love, joy, and peace are at the heart of all Jesus is trying to grow in the soil of your life. And all three are incompatible with hurry.* How to remain soft and open to those little seeds of Gods word (aka his voice) in my life, in the soil of my heart? In slowing down, I can be open to the wonder that maybe, just maybe God is here, in this moment, in my life moving and speaking; scattering seeds.
“Find what feels good” we hear this a lot in our practise with Adrienne. Lord help us to seek out and find what feels, not just good, but very good. Take us back to creation and sabbath rest. Help our souls seek out and find that which is God breathed and inspired in our lives.... “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is TRUE, and honourable, and RIGHT, and PURE, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.” [Philippians 4:8-9 NLT]
It’s easy to think that there are no seeds being scattered in your life, that God doesn’t speak, but what if His Holy Spirit is like a candle highlighting moments in your heart where maybe you were quick to judge or get defensive or angry. All these seemingly innocuous emotional states in our day to day life, could be moments when God is trying to start a dialogue with us. As we practice mind-body awareness on the mat, we can begin to practice it off the mat too. Instead of rushing through moments of discomfort, or going from one thing to the next in our social calendars; we can weave more margin into our daily rhythm. Allowing us the chance to not only notice what triggered us, but why— bringing all of that under the kind gaze and correction of our Heavenly Father. Attention is the beginning of devotion.* Beloved, what are you doing with your time? What is your attention on?
“God’s love is meteoric, his loyalty astronomic, His purpose titanic, his verdicts oceanic. Yet in his largeness nothing gets lost; Not a man, not a mouse, slips through the cracks… How exquisite your love, O God! [Psalm 36:5 MSG] R.C. Sproul says that “there is no maverick molecule in this universe.” Everything happens for a reason, there is no such thing as coincidence. Not a man, not a mouse, slips through the cracks. Bold statement. The nature of God’s sovereignty must challenge my life and my perceptions— do things ‘just happen’ or is God behind it all? Maybe in the simple, good fortune of “things working out” God is speaking to you and showing how tangibly His presence and blessing is with you, how tangibly He is letting His glory pass you by.
The Westminster Shorter Catechism of the seventeenth century begins with the question “What is the chief end of man?” The answer: “to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” In the eighteenth century, Jonathan Edwards developed this theme, saying, “God is glorified not only by his glory’s being seen, but by its being rejoiced in.” Today, another pastor-theologian, John Piper, has drawn on Edwards to suggest a new answer to the Westminster question: “The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever. There is so much wonder around us Beloved, just look at the stars! Look at the space that you take up in this big wild cosmos! What a miracle that you are alive. Breathe it in. Today let’s take a moment to live in awe. This is how we glorify God and enjoy Him. Amongst all the trillions and billions of galaxies swirling above you there is so much of space to marvel at and yet we are the object of Gods affection- you are a miracle my friend, breathe in this magic and let it fill you with awe and wonder.
In the end, your life is no more than the sum of what you gave your attention to. The solution to an over-busy life is not more time. The answer is in slowing down, and to simplify our lives.* Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths, the turning inwards in prayer for five short minutes.*
“I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous, your handmade sky-jewelry: moon and stars mounted in their settings. Then I look at my micro-self and [I am filled with] wonder… [Psalm 8:3-4 MSG].
Shake him off Beloved, swap it out for a grace-full heart and dance like no one is watching.
breath in
Gods holy presence : feel His words wash over your spirit and speak only that which is true and good over you- where once you were without worth God came and called you admirable and lovely think on such things and let it move through you from thinking to feeling beloved he calm stillness and sweet serenity of God’s comforting presence.
breath out
awe and wonder and praise for all of Gods glory (presence and blessing). What a miracle that we in our bodies carry the Holy Spirit of God. Choose today to bring that sense of presence and blessing into the space around you. Speak into existence goodness and belovedness to yourself and to those you may encounter today.
Enjoy your practice! (it’s 36mins long)
ImagoDei Wellbeing & Yoga
Week 14 : SPACE
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Maybe you want to listen to this song during your Savasana today.
Remember you can always find and play the IMAGO DEI Wellbeing & Yoga playlist on Spotify during your yoga practice as well.
*References (in order of appearance):
John Mark Comer ‘The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry’
Christian Classics Ethereal Library ‘Westminster Shorter Catechism (1674)’ (Website, http://www.ccel.org/creeds/westminster-shorter-cat.html)
Jonathan Edwards: The Miscellanies, vol. 13 in ‘The Works of Jonathan Edwards’
John Piper ‘Desiring God’
Etty Hillesum ‘A life transformed’
Youtube Disclaimer:
This sequence was created by yours truly for ImagoDei Wellbeing & Yoga, however so much credit is due to Adrienne from Yoga with Adrienne if you’re comfortable engaging with non christian yoga material she provides an excellent youtube challenge and this 30 week programme we’re on together is loosely based around her 30 day Breathe Journey.
I do not intend to steal or take or take credit for this lovely human’s hard work and knowledge and talent. All credit due to the wonderful Adrienne Louise for providing the framework we are using today. (We love Benji as well).
Finally and most importantly you partake of this video and do this yoga flow at your own discretion please above all listen to your bodies and as Adrienne would say find what feels good and only do what’s best for body and your baby. Always, always ImagoDei Wellbeing & Yoga recommends that you consult your physician regarding the applicability of any of the postures and recommendations made in this video. Remember to follow all safety guidelines and instructions before beginning any exercise program. When participating in any exercise or exercise program, there is the possibility of physical injury. If you engage in this exercise or exercise program, you agree that you do so at your own risk, are voluntarily participating in these activities, assume all risk of injury to yourself.