Intentionality is a good modern expression for Kavanah. Pro-active is another good word that goes hand in hand. I was thinking about both this afternoon.
Lately I've been getting more into Yoga practice, and Yoga is a lot of fun. If you've never tried it I highly recommend at least once, and watch some videos on youtube to get an idea. There are some weird things associated with Yoga, and having seen the yogi's in India and how they basically pimp a two religions which can be very dark. I don't give every practice my wholehearted endorsement. We need to redeem it if we want to practice it as sons and daughters of God. But there are some things that Yoga definitely has right that we are missing out on if we don't at least get curious.
The first one is energy. My fiance, Cristin, is very tuned into energy, and can get a sense of positive or negative energy when she walks into a room. Whether you believe in that or not, it deeply effects her moods and as a part of discernment, her feelings are very reliable. Energy is what is required to fulfill our intentions. If we sent our intentions we must seek out the right frame of mind, the right energy to achieve it. If we want to align our intentions with God, we need to create space in our lives for God to work, and step into good energy so that we don't get burned out. Christ said his burden is light, because of the energy that comes with serving a good God. Any workout is going to enhance your energy, but Yoga has specific intentional things to do that. How else can we intentionally increase and make positive God energy for ourselves and others throughout our days? This is where Yichud and Kavanah become intensely practical.
The meditation piece of Yoga needs some work. The Ohms are not my thing. For a Christian we need not empty our minds, but fill it (Phil. 4:8) There is something else similar to Ohm that I like a lot more and that is Shanti. The wisdom of God is first peaceable. Shanti means peace. The reason I practice Yoga is not to be some unflappable inner peace guru. I already have a pretty good inner peace going on. The reason I like it or it helps me is because it reminds me that Peace begins within and must go outward. Blessed are the peacemakers. I have it all set aside to do a study on peace in the Bible, but I know one thing, worrying about inner peace comes from a posture of feeling threatened. Making peace outwardly comes from a posture of feeling the injustice of others. And this is what I want more than anything. To embrace the Micah 6:8 principles of life, this is my desire. I am not there yet. I often have no idea how to advocate for others, but I'm in a place now to begin to learn. And Kavanah is a key to this effort.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Yichud & Kavanah
Another two month hiatus from blogging, no promises, but I really need to be writing more. I've had something more specific to direct my writing to (ie my long-distance relationship) And so I begin this process with hopes that I will write more regularly, and hopefully more interestingly. At least until I have a job. Also, I need to get back into something I used to do all the time, which is write movie reviews. Those are available here.
Mentioned briefly in Shaping of Things to Come by Frost & Hirsch, these two principles in the title of this post are really co-essential, and they jumped out at me from the page (not just because they were italicized). Kavanah means "to pay attention, to direct mind and heart in order to maximize levels of intentionality in our actions." Yichud referes specifically to the Shema, and the oneness, or unity of God, and points to the principle of us unifying our lives under this God who is charactierized as being "one".
Many people have said it, but Rob Bell said in one of his books or Nouma videos that if anything is important to God, then Everything is important to God, because he's big enough to care about all that. To unify our lives is not to sort life into categories, Important and Trivial, Sacred and Secular, Humans and Sparrows. God cares about it all.
I have wrestled with the idea of Sunday morning church events, and how we call that worship, and there's a temple-centric, time and place oriented approach to God, and the worship of God. I have concluded that really just reinforces my cognitive dissonance between what God says and what I do. I am really bad at the principles described above. The worship center is not a large acoustically tuned room with a sounds system. The worship center is staring back at you in the mirror.
To be God's image, as we were created is a 24-7 thing, and as we approach life with Kavanah and Yichud, we don't become ascetics, or get untold health and wealth. We don't just walk on water and we don't just sink. Jesus promised life to the full. That's everything life on earth, beautiful and fallen, includes; triumph and heartache, boredom and anxiousness and complete engagement and intensity.
My only real purpose in writing this is to realize in part how seriously AND joyfully God has created this world, and how there is no change in my demeanor that is required. Only in my beliefs, in identifying the lies I believe, and in my actions, to correct those decietful practices, to do justice and treat all others with the dignity not of their actions, but of their image, which is also God's image.
Mentioned briefly in Shaping of Things to Come by Frost & Hirsch, these two principles in the title of this post are really co-essential, and they jumped out at me from the page (not just because they were italicized). Kavanah means "to pay attention, to direct mind and heart in order to maximize levels of intentionality in our actions." Yichud referes specifically to the Shema, and the oneness, or unity of God, and points to the principle of us unifying our lives under this God who is charactierized as being "one".
Many people have said it, but Rob Bell said in one of his books or Nouma videos that if anything is important to God, then Everything is important to God, because he's big enough to care about all that. To unify our lives is not to sort life into categories, Important and Trivial, Sacred and Secular, Humans and Sparrows. God cares about it all.
I have wrestled with the idea of Sunday morning church events, and how we call that worship, and there's a temple-centric, time and place oriented approach to God, and the worship of God. I have concluded that really just reinforces my cognitive dissonance between what God says and what I do. I am really bad at the principles described above. The worship center is not a large acoustically tuned room with a sounds system. The worship center is staring back at you in the mirror.
To be God's image, as we were created is a 24-7 thing, and as we approach life with Kavanah and Yichud, we don't become ascetics, or get untold health and wealth. We don't just walk on water and we don't just sink. Jesus promised life to the full. That's everything life on earth, beautiful and fallen, includes; triumph and heartache, boredom and anxiousness and complete engagement and intensity.
My only real purpose in writing this is to realize in part how seriously AND joyfully God has created this world, and how there is no change in my demeanor that is required. Only in my beliefs, in identifying the lies I believe, and in my actions, to correct those decietful practices, to do justice and treat all others with the dignity not of their actions, but of their image, which is also God's image.
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