Out of Alignment

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Have you ever had an aching back? A crick in the neck? Something with your muscles, bones, ligaments, or tendons that was just off?

Many moons ago I trained to be a Pilates instructor. Pilates is a full-body exercise discipline that focuses on strengthening a body's "core" or "powerhouse," which includes all of the muscles of the abdomen, glutes, and back. When these muscles are strengthened, they help hold everything else in alignment.

Alignment is one of the key pillars of Pilates. Done properly, Pilates strengthens and restores, and is even frequently recommended for physical therapy patients. However, as is the case with most forms of exercise, if done incorrectly, it can cause strain and even damage. Your body needs to be properly aligned (or moving toward alignment) to do the simple moves effectively. Proper and effective movement encourages and reinforces alignment, which allows the moves to be even more powerful.

I thought of all this when reflecting on a sermon I heard recently. 

One of my pastors was discussing the concept of repentance and how it is often equated with a complete, 180-degree, about-face turn in the other direction. Like you were messing up BAD-- flagrantly--and need to flat-out abandon the path you were on in order to get back on track. 

And of course, this is sometimes the case.

The thing is, he said, sometimes we're not so flagrantly off track. Sometimes we've just veered ever-so-slightly off course. Our error may be so small that we do not even perceive it, but this minor deviation, if ignored, may eventually send us latitudes or longitudes from where we meant to be. 

Sometimes repentance, getting back on track, just means a little shift, a tweak. A minor course correction could have major impact. We just need to be realigned with the heart of God.

Just like the powerhouse in Pilates, a strong spiritual core is essential for holding everything in place. 

God's Word, prayer, and a willingness to be led and corrected by the Holy Spirit are that core of strength. 

When we get a little out of alignment spiritually, whatever that may look like, those are the muscles that pull everything back together. 

Sometimes we may not know we are out of alignment until something really starts to bulge--a relationship goes haywire, you start to feel hopeless, anxiety sucks the air right out of your lungs. 

Maybe you find yourself getting in more arguments than usual. Maybe you are less patient. Less loving. When the fruits of the Spirit are shriveling on the vine, there's a good chance course correction is in order. 

If this hits home with you today, I invite you to join me in this prayer:

A Prayer of Alignment

Almighty Lord God, please help my heart to align with Yours, whether that means strengthening my current convictions, tweaking them to get them back on track, or abandoning them altogether. My dogma, my religiosity, my "wisdom" is nothing if it does not come from You. 

Remind me that when you said, "If you're not with me, you're against me," You were speaking to the Pharisees, who thought they knew it all. Their pride in their religious fervor kept them out of alignment just enough that they missed your message completely. They valued what they knew instead of valuing You. 

Help me not to make the same mistake. 

See me, read me, know me, and reveal my errors and inadequacies to me that I may repent of them. 

I must be less, You must be more. 

Thank you for Your abundant mercy and grace,

Amen. 

But the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23.

But the wisdom that comes from above is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere. --James 3:17

Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. Matthew 12:30

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