Be Christ! (How-To)

Father, if you are willing,

take this cup from me;

yet not my will,

but yours be done.

-Luke 22

It is easy being Christ in pleasant situations, when everything is going according to plan and expectations. When all is well as far as we can sense.

But how do you practice being Christ in trying situations? I was given what I think is the beginning of an answer last night when I went for a Chinese foot massage. You know, the kind that makes you wince because of the pressure. The guy who massaged me was incredibly strong (or knew how to position his body to exert the right amount of pressure) and he was hitting the right spots in the soles of my feet. At the time it was happening, I resorted to focusing on my exhales. I consciously relaxed my whole body from my facial muscles and my shoulder muscles, my back muscles, all my joints, and especially the muscles he was working on.

Only now in retrospect did I realize that I surrendered to the pressure he was applying to me. By surrender, I meant, the embodiment of, Into Thy hands, I commit my spirit. I softened my muscles, but that starts from the mind and the heart. The space of receptivity opens up, expands, and welcomes the pressure. Metaphorically, welcoming the stranger, the "least of these," the visitors in Rumi's 'guest house.'

For that is when our Christ-consciousness is tried and manifested. Those are the times when I am asked to grow and mature in my Love, my Faith in the Beloved. Those are graced times, when God truly has her loving hands on me. She is somehow saying, I Am here. Feel me. I Am with you. Do not be afraid.

How about you? Can you visualize the hand of the Divine Massage Therapist working on your 'spiritual muscles' when it feels you are in the valley of death? Can you treat those times detoxifying you, cleansing you, like a deep-tissue massage would?

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

And put a new spirit within me.

The sacrifice acceptable to God

is a broken spirit;

A broken and contrite heart,

O God, you will not despise.

-Psalm 51

Be Christ!

Who is my mother and who are my brothers?

Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven

is my brother, and sister and mother.

Mt 12:48-50

Next week I am in the Bay Area with my nuclear family. From Monday to Friday, my wife and I will be with my 80-year old mom, 5 siblings, and numerous nephews and nieces. Being with my family has its joys, and its challenges. So I decided to have a spiritual direction session, well, for spiritual direction.

At the end of my session, my spiritual director said, Be Christ. Use words only when necessary. I lighted up when she said that. Now that's a challenge I will gladly face. The benefits will go way beyond next week. And why not Be Christ in every moment, in every place?

Isn't that why Jesus came to be? For Jesus to show us God's Will and how to fulfill it? For us to be God's Love no matter what, where, and when?

How about you? Where or when do you find it challenging to be Christ and where or when do you find it so easy it feels like you can walk on water?

Surely goodness and mercy

shall follow me

all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell

in the house of the Lord

my whole life long.

-Psalm 23

Return of the Soul

I thank you, O God
Who lives now and forever,
that You have restored to me my soul with mercy;
great is your faithfulness

The above is the Jewish tradition's Modeh Ani prayed as soon as one wakes up. Before one gets out of bed, before the toes touch the floor. Ever since I came across this prayer from the excellent book about traditional Jewish prayer, movement, and meditation Minding the Temple of the Soul, I have been praying it as prescribed.

According to this book, the Code of Jewish Law explains "when a person is asleep, the holy soul departs from his body." I have always asked myself what the soul does when I am asleep. Does God take it to be cleansed, repaired, schooled, taken on field trips complete with roller coaster rides and cotton candies just like a granddad would?

And yesterday, after teaching a Practicing Yoga with Sacred Poetry (by Rumi, Hafiz, and Gibran), I learned another prayer from another book while climbing stairs (Yoga Barn, where I led the workshop, has a flight of stairs): O God, may every step I make take me closer to you. I am confident that it is possible to pray unceasingly. All the time. In all ways.

How about you? How else can you fill your day with prayer in relation to your activities?

Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name.
-from Psalm 104

O God, Where art Thou?

Do not disdain your body

for the soul is just as safe

in its body as in the

kingdom of God.

-Mechtilde of Magdeburg

But what do you do if you were violated, abused, raped? Trampled on, reduced to trash, betrayed, emotionally and psychologically murdered?

Such is the challenge of this children's hospital chaplain who bought my book and wrote me for help with her 'kids'? Her clientele are adolescents, mostly girls, who were abused. She wanted body prayer poses for her kids but with some warning. She said her kids can not and will not do poses that exposes the chest, that pushes the pelvis forward, that sticks the tail out, that makes them squat, that asks them to lay down either on their backs or on their tummies.

Just imagine moving within that prison cell. If you can call that movement. It is an emotional and psychological straight jacket. It is like being held back by an invisible electric fence. Venture out, and it will be hell. Stay inside, and it is hell. Imagine living like that.

How about you? What are you afraid of? What past experience holds you back from freedom, from dancing out of sync, from singing out of tune? What makes you cry?

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far from helping me,

from the words of my groaning?

O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;

And by night, but find no rest.

But I am a worm, and not human;

scorned by others, and despised by the people.

O my help, come quickly to my aid!

- from Psalm 22 (NRSV)

Dancing with God

You don't have a soul.

You are a soul.

You have a body.

-C S Lewis

Six hours ago, I led a prayer group at the Bothell United Methodist Church. For most of the 14 people who came, it was their first time to include the body in praying. To feel the body in prayer is a gift, an awareness of Christ, the Word Incarnate.

Jesus Christ is God's prayer. Jesus, God's Word, is God's answer to our prayers. The answer to our prayers is God's prayer. This flesh! This blood! These bones! In every cell of my body is God.

This body contains, houses the Beloved One. Within is the answer to all my prayers. Feel it. C'mon. Savor it. Drink it all in. Quench your thirst for Love.

And always remember, never forget who breathes you at this moment. And this moment. And this moment... Then let the Breath, the Spirit, move the body. This way. That way. Just like that. Loose yourself in the dance. And closing your eyes, surrendering, saying Amen... Amen... Amen...

How about you? When did you last dance with God in prayer?

Alleluia! Sing a new song to Yahweh:

his praise in the assembly of the faithful!

Israel shall rejoice in its Maker,

the children of Zion delight in their King;

They shall dance in praise of his name,

play to him on tambourines and harp!

-PSALM 149

You in me, me in You.

But from the beginning of creation,

God made them male and female.
For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh.
So they are no longer two but one flesh.
Therefore what God has joined together,
no human being must separate.

-from Matthew 10

"I bow to the Divine in you." That's what the greeting namaste means. And it is said in India, the country of its origin, with both hands together and a slight bow of the head.

I invite you now to bring your hands to the praying position. Feel the left hand together with the right hand... becoming one. With eyes softly closed, bow your head to the Divine in you.

"What God has joined together (you and God), no human being must separate." Once I fool myself that I am separate from that love, which activates fear and judging and anxiety, I suffer.

Therefore, for me, this word and gesture is a symbol of reconciliation, of integration, of union of the opposites. This is what Jesus came here for, and what is being asked of us: reconciliation with God. He came to teach us about love, especially the radical teaching of loving my enemies. Love. The greatest tool of reconciliation. Without love, true union is impossible.

That's how I interpret the passage today from Matthew. I am asked to bring union and harmony wherever I go. To be an instrument of love, of joy, of peace. To be with God.

How about you? Where can you bring reconciliation, harmony, wholeness, oneness, in your life now? What is one small, simple, doable step can you take right now toward that goal?

Here's a simple breath prayer:

Be still and quiet and be aware of the presence of God around and within you.

Inhaling, quietly say "You are in me,"

Exhaling, say "I am in you."

Repeat as much as you want.

"As you, Father, are in me and I am in you,

may they also be in us,

so that the world may believe

that you have sent me."

- John 17

Angels among us

Remember always to welcome strangers,

for by doing this,

some people have entertained angels

without knowing it.

-Hebrews 13:2

Easier said than done. Easier to accept the strange, the oddity, the abnormal, the out of the ordinary, when they are on TV, or online, or in the news, or at our neighbor's door. But as soon as they knock on our doors, maybe our hearts harden, suddenly paralyzed and tongue-tied, looking for an excuse to close the door.

What do you do if your husband told you he has prostate cancer, lost his job, or wants a divorce? What if your son tells you he is gay or a member of a hate group? What if you found out your daughter is a prostitute to support her meth addiction?

How welcoming will you be when you are face to face with these issues? Would you be able to do what you would advise a friend, a neighbor, when they are experiencing these strangeness? Can you keep your heart open in hell?

The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him,

and he delivers them.

Taste and see that the LORD is good;

blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

-Psalm 34