What do you do each morning?
For me, I wake, take my thyroid medicine, get my coffee, sit on the back porch and read my devotions. Right now I am reading The Confident Woman by Joyce Meyer but the book I want to talk to you about is Meditations from the Mat by Rolf Gates and Katrina Kenison.
I have never been good at sticking to a daily devotional. I have started out a New Year many times saying that I’ll read a devotional each morning or evening but have only to make it a few months and stop. I guess you can say I lack the devotion to read a devotional….
This year I have managed to read two devotions each day in the morning! I also found that a good cup of coffee (often Boston Stoker’s Highlander Grogg) seems to help! It is now July and I am still at it!!! Meditations from the Mat is a lovely daily devotional that brings reflections to your day by referencing yoga but also some Christian themes throughout. Reading Rolf’s background I found that he has a military background and comes from a long line of ministers. His dedication to physical fitness is amazing as well.
Once I was walking in a YMCA with my yoga friend/instructor and witnessed her being told “you will go to Hell for teaching yoga”. I was shocked! Yoga has helped me through a lot of difficult things where often I have felt that my Christian friends/family/church have not been there for me – having a child diagnosed with Autism and being diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer to name a few. This book has shown me that you can take thoughts, quotes, reflections and inspirations from people throughout the world, including people who have different “religious” beliefs than you, and bring them to your “mat” and learn.
One thing I have found difficult to follow, though, is how the book is set up. It starts with “Day 1”. I like it better when a devotional book starts with “January 1”. Having the exact date helps me know that I am on the right day. I have no idea what day of the year July 4th is. It is nice knowing that I have made it 186 days but is that where I am supposed to be today?
Here is a sampling of one of the day’s beginning quotes….enjoy!
Day 139: “For those who have come to grow, the whole world is a garden. For those who have come to learn, the whole world is a university. For those who have come to know God, the whole world is a prayer mat.” By M.R Bawa Muhaiyaddeen
http://www.rolfgates.com/pages/meditations/index.html
