Namaste Today

I am not a very good yoga practitioner. (There is probably a name for such a person who "does yoga stuff", but I don't even know what that name might be.) I used to think yoga was a little wimpified. Time is limited, and with only an hour to work out a couple times a week, I thought my workout hour needed to include serious sweat and a bit of pain. Long lovely deep breaths and strange contortions didn't seem to fit the bill.

I also need to admit that I had been a little bit brainwashed against yoga. Not for exercise reasons, but for religious reasons. A elder in a church I used to attend, a man I greatly admired, was opposed to yoga as a spiritual practice that contradicted Christianity. I like to think I am not one to be influenced by others' ideas without thoroughly researching and studying the topic myself, but if I'm honest I took his counsel to heart without ever consulting God on the issue.

But then came a long, hot summer with too many weeks without camp while all the neighborhood friends did have camp and so weren't home to play. Turns out, my son enjoys the Kids' Club at the YMCA and they will keep him for TWO HOURS at NO EXTRA CHARGE so long as my membership is current and I stay somewhere in the facility. Needless to say, I made full use of all my membership perks this summer.

Two hours meant I could (theoretically) run and lift and take a class. There are lots of classes to choose from, and one that often coincided with the Kids' Club hours was power yoga. (Not sure if there is a difference between power yoga and regular yoga, but power yoga sounds way cooler.)

Power yoga kicked my butt. It doesn't LOOK especially difficult - a bunch of people taking deep breaths while standing on one bare foot in a dim room - but I left with shaky muscles and a calm mind.

The instructor opened and closed each class with the blessing, "Namaste." I didn't know what this meant so I ran home to look it up (you know, just in case I was being led down some dark spiritual path). It means - that which is divine in me honors that which is divine in you. Mother Teresa used this to bless those for whom she cared. That part of me that is made in the image of God sees that part of you that is made in the image of God. I find this beautiful.

Most of us remember where we were twelve years ago. I do. We had just moved to a new city with three year old Sam. I had signed up for a Women's Bible study (free childcare) on Experiencing God. Registration and coffee from 8:30 to 9:00 then the study started at 9:00. A few women wandered in a 9:00 with some puzzling news: "I just heard on the radio that a plane hit the World Trade Center." And we thought weird. A single engine, small aircraft must have lost control. So sad.

The introduction to the study got underway, but before too long switched gears as the leader began to fervently pray. God you are our refuge and strength; an ever-present help in times of trouble. May we not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. And then she shared the news: "The World Trade Center Towers have been hit. The Pentagon has been hit. All appear to be coordinated acts of terror." May God have mercy.

We collected our children and went home to phone calls and covert news reports so as not to scare the littles and prayers. And I heard the cries for retribution and I felt those cries in my own heart and I worried. Oh, God, may we not be overcome by evil. And in the midst of evil we saw the good as friends, neighbors, strangers reached out a hand of blessing to one another. That which is divine in me honors that which is divine in you.

And today, as we remember to never forget, as we ache over a world still shattered by terror, as we debate retribution and bombing strikes and WHAT SHALL WE DO I pray Oh, God. May we not be overcome by evil. May we find a way to overcome evil with good. And I look for a way to Namaste.

Syria Link Up

On Tuesday evening Sam and I attended a volunteer orientation at Kentucky Refugee Ministries. Louisville and Lexington combined have one of the largest refugee resettlement programs in the United States, with over 10,000 refugees having found new homes in these bluegrass hills. We watched an oldish video showing the worldwide refugee situation. After the video the volunteer coordinator said, "The estimated number of 15 million refugees worldwide is no longer correct. Currently the number is an estimated 22 million. And that will most likely rise due to...well, due to recent events." And a silence fell over the room because recent events weighed heavy in our hearts: oh, Syria.

Many years ago a dear writer friend, Elsa Marston, published FIGS AND FATE, a collection of short stories about growing up in the Arab world - Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria. I fell in love with her characters and with the world they inhabited. I longed to travel to those ancient and foreign lands. Some day. But now... oh, Palestine; oh, Lebanon; oh, Iraq; oh, Egypt; oh, Syria.

I feel baffled and helpless: It's Too Big.

I've tried to educate myself with: 9 Questions about Syria You Were Too Embarrassed to Ask.

In keeping with my preference of getting my news from Saturday Night Live, I read The Onion. Specifically, Al-Assad's commentary: So What's It Going to Be?

and I voted with the rest of America to put boots on the ground by Sending Congress to Syria.

I realized that the international terror alert levels spoof attributed to John Cleese wasn't really written by him, but it's hilarious nevertheless: Syria Conflict Raises Terror Alert Levels Worldwide.

But as much as I want to look away, to laugh it all away, I know that we must stay engaged, we must maintain a Mindful Response to Atrocities.

The decision to strike or not to strike is not mine to make. The aid I am able to send may barely make a dent. But I can reach my hands to heaven and cry to the God of all nations. Oh, God! Why do the nations conspire against you and the peoples plot in vain. The leaders of the earth rise up and band together against the Lord and against his anointed. I can join with the world in Begging Our God for Mercy, Refuge, Peace.

Photo sources from http://visual.ly/save-syria