Repentance

I have realized that I was too hard on my new yoga friends the other day (see the previous post if you have no idea what I'm talking about). After spending a second day with them I learned that while they are a little kooky they are also really good, nice people. What I came to realize is that they all have some level of spirituality, it just isn't focused like it should be. Many of them believe in a higher power, some God, some other more vague things, but they all are searching for that thing that motivates them to lead a better life. What I also discovered is that my instructor is LDS. I learned this because she shared a quote by Neal Maxwell at the start of class yesterday. It was so interesting to watch and listen to her after that. I was amazed to notice all the times she talked about our beliefs without identifying them as belonging to any faith. She even mentioned the tender mercies of our lives at the end of the day. I'm sure some people wonder, as I did, how you can marry such deep religious faith with the philosophies of yoga but as I watched and listened I think she managed it perfectly. It was mostly all the same stuff just wrapped in a different package. She has provided a beautiful foundation for eventual conversion for these people. I know it's not necessarily likely that any of them will be exposed to the possibility of conversion, but if they are, at least something about it will be familiar and hopefully they will recognize it as good.

This weekend was a little rough for me (some of you who read this will realize why) and I actually found it really nice to be surrounded by all these "crazy" people. At the end of the day we had another share circle and shared our feelings about the weekend. It was amazing to listen to how people felt about their experience and especially how much they appreciated the instructor and her ability to be accepting and loving to each of us. I only hope I can somehow be more like she is in this regard. That when people meet me they will recognize and appreciate the light of Christ and feel accepted and loved so that one day when they are presented with the Gospel in its fullness they will be more receptive because of how I behaved. Who knew you could get that out of a weekend yoga course?