See Your Goodness

Savasana broke me wide open this morning.

As the teacher read this affirmation,"When I loved myself enough, I began to see the goodness in me," I was overcome by the the realization that Christianity spends an inordinate amount of energy convincing people of their innate flaws, their original sin that makes them need rescuing. If they told folks that they were born as blissful light and that God created them as inherently good, churches (the standard Christian variety anyway) would be out of business.

With realizations like this, my grip on the Christian label grows looser by the day. I subscribe to the theory that there are two ways of relating to Jesus--a soteriological (savior) one & a sophiological (wisdom) one. I go into this in some detail in my book but I am firmly in the latter camp. I think Jesus came to show us the way, not to save us from a vengeful God. The God I know is the opposite of vengeful and doesn't need to send someone to a tortuous death to provide the rest of us access to heaven.

When Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth & the light" he was not saying that so that he could swoop in and save us, but so that we might emulate him and claim for ourselves that knowing that we are the way, the truth & the light too. That's how we save ourselves--by following his beautiful example, by living into his wisdom that lights our way.

I am always amazed at how much I learn lying on a mat doing absolutely nothing. It is fertile ground for me. I would love to hear what your practice taught you this week.

Namaste.


This was originally written as a text to friends earlier this week. The teacher who spoke that affirmation, Star Amoureux, will soon be returning to her native Alaska. You can still catch one of her inspiring classes Mondays and Fridays @ 9:30 a.m. through the end of May at YogaOne���s Uptown Studio.