People of Hope,
Breathe in. Breathe out. I often hear these words while taking a yoga class. Sometimes I also hear, “don’t forget to breathe,” or “remember your breath.” At times, I will notice that I am breathing a lot harder than someone next to me. Struggling to hold a pose, I am gasping, while they continue on. And while it may be tempting to think that they have more oxygen than me, we are, in fact, practicing the same movements in the same room. They simply have more practice than me.
In our journey of faith, sometimes we compare ourselves to others, wondering if, secretly, God gave them more spiritual oxygen, the Holy Spirit. But we don’t get more Holy Spirit than the person next to us, and we also don’t get less Spirit than the most spiritual person we know, or the wisest person we know, or even the most loving person we know.
Instead, on this journey of faith (of life!), we learn to notice our breath. We practice breathing in and breathing out, while stretching our muscles a little longer — muscles of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, fruits of the Spirit. We learn to better notice the Spirit in our lives. We bring our mind and our body into one place with the Spirit; we notice that the Spirit is already showing up for us in our lives; we start paying attention more and more to our breath until we are stronger and stronger and stronger in knowing who we already are. And yes, we learn from one another.
This Sunday we celebrate Pentecost, the gift of the Holy Spirit. My prayer is that you will practice noticing the Spirit breathing in you. Stretch your muscles this week. Do not compare yourself to the one next to you, but give thanks to God that you see something in them that you long for. You also have gifts of the Spirit that we need and long for. The Spirit is upon you, People of Hope.
Your Sibling in Christ,
Pastor Liz
Breathe in. Breathe out. I often hear these words while taking a yoga class. Sometimes I also hear, “don’t forget to breathe,” or “remember your breath.” At times, I will notice that I am breathing a lot harder than someone next to me. Struggling to hold a pose, I am gasping, while they continue on. And while it may be tempting to think that they have more oxygen than me, we are, in fact, practicing the same movements in the same room. They simply have more practice than me.
In our journey of faith, sometimes we compare ourselves to others, wondering if, secretly, God gave them more spiritual oxygen, the Holy Spirit. But we don’t get more Holy Spirit than the person next to us, and we also don’t get less Spirit than the most spiritual person we know, or the wisest person we know, or even the most loving person we know.
Instead, on this journey of faith (of life!), we learn to notice our breath. We practice breathing in and breathing out, while stretching our muscles a little longer — muscles of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, fruits of the Spirit. We learn to better notice the Spirit in our lives. We bring our mind and our body into one place with the Spirit; we notice that the Spirit is already showing up for us in our lives; we start paying attention more and more to our breath until we are stronger and stronger and stronger in knowing who we already are. And yes, we learn from one another.
This Sunday we celebrate Pentecost, the gift of the Holy Spirit. My prayer is that you will practice noticing the Spirit breathing in you. Stretch your muscles this week. Do not compare yourself to the one next to you, but give thanks to God that you see something in them that you long for. You also have gifts of the Spirit that we need and long for. The Spirit is upon you, People of Hope.
Your Sibling in Christ,
Pastor Liz
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