Yard Art

I often wondered why neighborhood associations made strict rules about yard art . . . 

. . . until I no longer wondered.

Our community does not have yard art rules but we are not allowed to plant flowers. Go figure.

INHALE/EXHALE

Below is the printed prayer our church has requested that we pray daily. The tile of the prayer is, “Exhale."

            We inhale Your love.

                        We Exhale our selfish desires. (Breath deep/exhale.)

            We inhale Your peace.

                        We Exhale our anxiety. (Breath deep/exhale.)

            We inhale Your love.

                        We Exhale our apathy. (Breath deep/exhale.)

            We inhale Your presence.

            We Exhale our fear of being known and the fear to know.

 (Breath deep/exhale.)

           

            We inhale Your life-sustaining Spirit.

                        We Exhale our dependence on all things other than you.

 (Breath deep/exhale.)

            For in exhaling, we are able to

                        boldly proclaim, Thy Kingdom Come.

I’m troubled and uncomfortable with praying this prayer and have questions related to some reading I’ve been doing. 

“It [yoga] teaches one to focus on oneself instead of on the one true God. It encourages its participants to seek the answers to life's difficult questions within their own consciousness …”

     ~ gotquestions.org

“If you think, “I breathe,” the “I” is extra. There is no you to say “I.” What we call “I” is just a swinging door which moves when we inhale and when we exhale. It just moves; that is all. When your mind is pure and calm enough to follow this movement, there is nothing: no “I,” no world, no mind nor body; just a swinging door.”

     ~ Shunryu Suzuki in Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind.

Clipart from: Cliparts.com