Hope Learned from a Yogi

Taking a short pause from the Psalms...This past Sunday I preached much of my sermon literally standing on one foot.  This wasn’t because I was injured but instead sharing how I found a lesson about Hope (first Sunday of Advent) from something that my video yoga instructor shares whenever she leads into a balance pose.  She has three things that  that help keep you in balance and centered.  Her three things are:

• Ground yourself with your standing big toe

• Fix your gaze on a point that’s not moving

• The little wobbles keep you there

As I worked with the passages for this past Sunday from Isaiah 40:1-11 and Mark 1:1-8, I found myself returning to these three statements and finding how each of them speak to how we find hope.  If you want the full sermon, you can click here to take it in, but basically we can practice hope when we

• Ground ourselves in the things of God that stay strong no matter what (Isaiah 40:8)

• Fix our eyes on Jesus (Mark 1 and Hebrews 12:2)

• Allow the little wobbles to be there as we wrestle with the questions of faith.  (Psalm 22 for example)

These three things really speak to me of how we can live as people of hope even when life seems unsure or unsettled.  And they’re also pretty good for doing a warrior three or a standing tree pose...