Putting it together

Holyistic Living is about "putting it together."
I'm not talking about pretending to have your act together or putting up the image, rather just the work involved to learning and doing the integrated lifestyle.

I remember a moment of integration (bringing together supposedly contradicting ideas). I remember when I was just starting out in Martial arts in the basement of a church. We had this big burly biker guy as our Sifu (see-foo, instructor). He made it clear that he had been to jail for fighting and that he is okay with going back if need be. But really? Martial arts in the basement of a Catholic Church?
So I asked him, "Sifu, if we are supposed to be loving and kind, how do we make sense of this 'hurting people' thing in martial arts?
He said: "Well the knowledge of martial arts ultimately comes from God the source of all knowledge. How we choose to use this knowledge is up to us. We can use it to be violent offensive people, or use it for self defense and to help people in need."
With that I started kicking butt for Christ! Actually I was kicking pads for Christ. But the moment of mental integration of two supposedly opposing ideas helped me in my quest for Holyistic living.
The beauty of Eastern Philosophy is that there is an understanding that everything is a part of the whole, everything is connected to everything else. Interestingly enough, Jesus was an Easterner (Mid-East). But somehow in our Western thinking we tend to compartmentalize and deconstruct so much that we forget the wholeness of the universe. Yet, the Catholic Church has and still proclaims that we as individuals are a part of a whole called the Body of Christ. Think about it! And live Holyistically.