Religion

Love & Sacrifice (love – part 2)

Welcome to the Yoga Church Sunday Sermons. October 21st, 2018 {psst: there's downloadable art farther along in this post, so be sure you make it all the way to the bottom!} Love is a word that means SO many different things in our culture. It can be utterly casual—almost to the point of meaninglessness. But it's also a word powerful enough to change our lives. Sometimes it's the word we deeply need to hear. Sometimes it's the word we're terrified to say. I know that we all need love. I know that we want to be loving people. And I ... (Continue Reading)

By |2020-02-26T18:07:50-08:00October 21st, 2018|Art, Books, Creativity, Meditation, Nature, Practice, Relationships, Religion, Scripture, Spirituality, Yoga, Yoga Church Sunday Sermons|5 Comments

The Middle Ground Between Love & Contempt (love – part 1)

After listening to the sermon “Who, or what, is God?” a few weeks ago, Pam wrote: “As soon as you asked what opposites I feel in my life I thought of the command to love everyone and yet I find myself disliking our country’s leaders. Without getting political, how do we feel love towards someone who we don’t respect? For me this is a constant push and pull struggle. How do I reflect God’s love in my life if I have contempt for someone?” These are important personal reflections and wise questions. Thank you Pam for sharing them with ... (Continue Reading)

By |2021-07-29T13:40:30-07:00October 7th, 2018|Art, Embodiment, Meditation, Nature, Practice, Relationships, Religion, Scripture, Spirituality, Yoga, Yoga Church Sunday Sermons|12 Comments

Keeping Time (fall equinox part 2)

As promised, here’s part 2 of the fall equinox sermon. Last week we rooted ourselves on the ground. And this week we explore the practice of keeping time. One of the ways we mark time at our house is by greeting every new season with a morning fire. We take a moment out of regular life to pause and notice the energetic shifts happening in the natural world and to notice how these shifts are showing up in our own lives. We reflect on the intentions of the past season and set new intentions for the months ahead. ... (Continue Reading)

By |2021-07-28T17:49:59-07:00September 29th, 2018|Art, Autumn, Books, Creativity, Meditation, Nature, Practice, Relationships, Religion, Scripture, Spirituality, Yoga, Yoga Church Sunday Sermons|6 Comments

the Ground of all Being (fall equinox part 1)

Yesterday—in the northern hemisphere where I live—was the fall equinox and it was my full intention to offer you a sermon in celebration of the season change. But when I sat down to write, something else entirely poured out of me... The fall equinox feels like a very earthy thing and apparently something inside of me needed to root us on the ground before I could actually begin writing about the season change. So you're getting the fall equinox sermon in two parts over two weeks. The Ground of all Being (fall equinox part 1) ... (Continue Reading)

By |2021-07-28T17:44:50-07:00September 23rd, 2018|Art, Autumn, Books, Creativity, Embodiment, Meditation, Nature, Practice, Relationships, Religion, Scripture, Spirituality, Yoga, Yoga Church Sunday Sermons|4 Comments

Transformation Begins with Deep Noticing

This week, we turn our attention toward the idea of transformation. All sermons include something of the preacher in them, but this one asked a bit more of me than usual. In my personal practice the last few years I've been working to become more comfortable with the reality of vulnerability (I call it a reality because even though many of us do our best to be invulnerable, we will always fail). So this week I share some of my own transformation with you. I share it because transformation isn't always easy or pretty. But, like vulnerability, it's ... (Continue Reading)

By |2021-07-28T17:25:30-07:00September 15th, 2018|Art, Nature, Practice, Relationships, Religion, Scripture, Spirituality, Yoga, Yoga Church Sunday Sermons|11 Comments

Who or What is God?

September 9th, 2018 As you know spiritual study, practice, and community are my favorite things to think about, talk about, do, and build. For many years I felt spiritually homeless and I've spent the last decade searching for spiritual answers. I went to seminary. I took multiple yoga teacher trainings. And I dove deep into the ancient scriptures of Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, and yoga. I still have big questions, but they're different now, and I'm at a point where my heart feels full and my spirit feels calm. I no longer feel spiritually homeless, but I know a ... (Continue Reading)

By |2021-07-28T16:00:18-07:00September 9th, 2018|Art, Nature, Religion, Scripture, Spirituality, Yoga, Yoga Church Sunday Sermons|16 Comments

Scripture as a Path

I believe in God as the ever moving Spirit propelling us toward Love. I do not believe that any one person or scripture or teaching can define God or explain perfect belief or practice. I think we honor Divine Mystery every time we choose compassion, inclusion, and generosity. I think we would all be well served to constantly ask ourselves: WHO AM I BECOMING THROUGH THIS…practice? habit? idea? belief? vote? reaction? food choice? course of study? and on and on and on. We would be well served to ask this question over and over again. There’s nothing in life that ... (Continue Reading)

By |2017-05-04T17:09:28-07:00May 4th, 2017|Books, Practice, Religion, Scripture, Spirituality, Yoga|1 Comment

An Earthy Christmas Sermon (2016)

On Christmas morning I had the pleasure of bringing the message at Spokane Friends Church, which is a place that nourished me deeply when I had big, confused questions about God and spirituality and the world. I was honored to be asked to speak on Christmas morning and was surprised at how difficult a Christmas sermon is to write. What I came up with is deeply influenced by the earthiness of my new home (pictured below), by the love of Winter Solstice that I received from my grandmother, and by the Quaker dedication to Light that informs my understanding of God. ... (Continue Reading)

By |2019-10-08T14:52:37-07:00December 29th, 2016|Books, Embodiment, Holidays, Nature, Practice, Relationships, Religion, Scripture, Spirituality|1 Comment

Our Favorite Scriptures

Hello friends, This is the first of two community queries that I'm posting. I love scripture and I have a ton of favorite sacred texts. Over the years, I've shared many of them with you. But I would like to turn the tables here. I want to hear about your favorite scripture. I want to learn from you. And I want you to learn from each other. Let's inspire each other. Let's spiritually nurture one another. Please take a moment to share your favorite scripture with everyone in the comments below. Thank you for being a part of this community! I'm so ... (Continue Reading)

By |2016-04-21T16:06:23-07:00April 21st, 2016|Books, Creativity, Embodiment, Meditation, Nature, Practice, Relationships, Religion, Scripture, Spirituality, Yoga|10 Comments

Confessions of Fear and Courage

I titled this post “Confessions of Fear and Courage,” but it could just as easily have been called “Reflections of Memory and Calling.” William Maxwell wrote that “what we refer to confidently as memory is really a form of storytelling that goes on continually in the mind and often changes with the telling.” Anyone who’s practiced yoga with me has heard me say that everything is changing moment to moment. Memories are not immune to this reality. More and more, research shows us that memory is a process, not a thing. Memories aren’t files stored on the “hard drive” of ... (Continue Reading)

By |2019-10-08T13:13:23-07:00March 16th, 2016|Art, Books, Creativity, Relationships, Religion, Scripture, Spirituality, Spring, Yoga|11 Comments
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