Flow and Balance

Scriptures: Acts 5:27-32; John 20:19-31

Key Verse: “When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.'” (John 20:22)

“How come I don’t feel the energy flow that you talked about?” I asked my mom who is a TaiChi master when I visited her in Taiwan 5 years ago. I had asked her to teach me TaiChi. If you look at her now, you wouldn’t believe that she was a sickly mom 30 years ago. Seeing her lying down so often in her bed while growing up, I am so grateful to God that she is now a faithful disciple of Jesus and a healthy mom. I often see her using her thumbs to press or hands to tap acupuncture points on certain parts of her body depending on where she felt the energy was blocked or was about to be blocked, which caused her discomfort or pain. The flow and balance of ‘energy’ is well used in Chinese medicine practice and martial arts including TaiChi. Have you seen a symbol, a circle divided into two, one side black and and one side white? Universal energy is represented by the color black, and white represents the inner energy restored inside the human body.

I’m not an expert on energy but will try my best to explain the concept of this air energy which might help us understand Jesus’ greeting and the first conversation to his disciples who locked themselves behind a door in fear.

One important Chinese medicine practice is paying attention to the flow and balance of energy inside the human body. Our hearts, lungs, blood vessels, and brain are constantly moving and creating energy. And the movements of our organs can either be slowed down or sped up depending on how relaxed or intense we are feeling.

When my mom was teaching me TaiChi, she emphasized that I had to reach complete relaxation as I move every part of my body so that the universal energy can enter my body to balance the energy stream inside me. One day on our way back home, I was kind of teasing my mom which wasn’t appropriate at all. I said, “Show me your energy!” Then she moved her hands slowly and gracefully towards me and touched my chest. I didn’t even know what was happening. I felt like she was punching my chest which made me bounce back several steps. Then I said, “Wow! It’s real!” Then she responded, “Of course!”

After Jesus’ crucifixion, his disciples who had not yet witnessed his resurrection locked themselves in a room out of fear. The scripture doesn't tell us much about all those who had been fed by him, had healed by him, had learned his teaching or had followed him wherever he went. All we know is the small circle of disciples who fearfully gathered and hid. The body of Christ certainly was weakened, scattered, and lost due to Jesus’ death.

Have you ever felt that the church, the people of God, the body of Christ, was so scattered and lost? The pandemic certainly hit us hard. But the scatteredness of the body of Christ started at least 20 years ago. We all have witnessed the spiral of declining Christianity in America, but how many of us have the courage and the skill to tell the truth in love to the weakened and scattered church as St. Paul said in Ephesians 4:15? It might be a good time to review the letter St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians which can still give great encouragement and speak to all believers who are living in the 21st century.

Jesus never gave up on his followers. He knew what they needed the most. His first greeting to his disciples was, “Peace be with you.” And then he commanded them to practice forgiveness of sins by using the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the best healing medicine in the universe. The spirit exists from the very beginning of the creation story. It says in Genesis 1:2 that God’s spirit moves above the waters. In both Biblical Hebrew, ruach, and Biblical Greek pneuma, we know God’s spirit has to do with God's breath like air energy that gives us life, that helps each member of the body of Christ move at the right pace, and that keeps our interactions with each other well balanced in harmony. Where there is no harmony, there are sins which cause discomfort or unbearable pain in us and among us. Being Easter people, may we continue practicing forgiveness of sins and allow the Holy Spirit flow well in us and among us. Amen.