Before you turn away from this article, please know that part of my testimony includes learning about God in my Elementary Particle Physics class in college. Yep, you read that right…I learned about God in an upper level physics class. Back when I went to college there was a factor my professor described as the “God particle.”
The “God particle” was an equation variable used to describe a force, or a tiny bundle of energy, responsible for giving all other particles their mass. (I should also note this name was not widely accepted by all theoretical particle physicists, but it was used by my professor and created a deep desire in me to learn more.)
[Colossians 1:16-17 NLT] “for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see--such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.”
“He holds all creation together” and the “God particle” is an energy field that controls the nature of all other particles.
This “God particle” was theoretically discovered (which is not the same as being confirmed) in 2012 by a group of physicists as a resonant field, the Brout-Englert-Higgs mechanism, and is now referred to as the Higgs boson within the Standard Model of Physics. Bosons are defined as the force carrying elementary particles, including photons and gluons. Photons describe the particle nature of light (the full nature of light is described as a wave-particle duality), and gluons are known as “the strong force” and are considered a fundamental force of nature.
[Genesis 1:1 NLT] “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
God is beyond our understanding and worthy of all our praise. If we could understand Him with our three pound brains, then is He still worthy of worshiping?!? Due to the time-complicated nature of God: is, was, and will be, this a challenging concept for us to comprehend within our limited and linear human capacities. Our God of the Bible existed before all things, is in all things, and moves through all things. The God of the Bible is not affected by time, space, or matter. In fact, God existed before time, space, and matter; and “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” thereby defining time, space, and matter together. I think God is fundamental and is responsible for all things.
[Hebrews 13:8 NET] “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever!”
Okay…so how is any of this relevant to us in the field of Christ-centered yoga?
Classical yoga could be considered an esoteric form of spirituality. Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda are treated as alternative medicine and refer to a variety of experiences and phenomena as being due to "energy." This “energy,” however, cannot be measured and therefore, according to physicists, should be distinguished from the scientific form of energy. Since there is no scientific evidence for the existence of this spiritual concept of energy, physics educators criticize the use of the term "energy" to describe the ideas as potentially confusing. Similarly, there is also no scientific evidence of the elementary particles of gluons (like the Higgs boson or the“God particle”) having been confirmed by experiment either. For me, this is where science and spirituality converge.
There is historical evidence that throughout the ages humans have sought to increase their understanding of both the physical and metaphysical world. We were created with curiosity and free-will. Since the time of Adam and Eve people have been naturally curious about the things we do not understand and/or have not been granted access to. We are spiritual beings having a physical experience, and this automatically creates a barrier for interpreting the divine nature that characterizes God. People strive for answers through the lenses and techniques of science, spirituality, and embodiment.
[Proverbs 3:5 NET] “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding.”
As children of God, it is important for us to approach world-created information through the lens of Christ. By being regenerated with the divine nature, believers can exhibit the characteristics of Jesus in all that we are and do. We don’t have to have a comprehensive understanding, because…
[Job 12:13 NET] "With God are wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.”
[Job 37:5 NET] “God thunders with his voice in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding.”
Published May 2022, Christian Yoga Magazine
Unsplash Image @ydaniels
