Stretching

Beau is getting ordained at the end of this week!! We are so excited! My made Beau an ordination stole, and she really out-did herself this time. She is an awesome seamstress, but she did some amazing work. I'll be sure to take a lot of pictures at the ordination so you all can see it. He is getting ordained at a church in Trenton with three others, one of whom was called about a week ago. Beau and I would have liked to have been ordained together, but it is better this way. Rushing my process wouldn't help anyone. Beau's sister is coming for the weekend, and I'm excited to see her. She, her husband, and kids recently moved to the Richmond area in VA, so they are our nearest family - about 7 hours away!

We had breakfast with the pastors in our cluster today, which is a monthly occurrence. It's nice to know that are colleagues are all great people! AND more great food was had by all!

 I joined a yoga class at the gym finally this morning, and it was very good! I think I'll try to make this a weekly thing. I really enjoy stretching my muscles and getting in touch with my body. It helps me remember that, yes, I DO have a body and I'm not just a floating brain. I've also been reading Thich Nhat Hanh's Peace is Every Step, which is about finding peace in the awareness of the present moment. During yoga, either I am thinking about staying in the pose, or I try not to think at all. I think this will help my shoulders and neck, which is where I tend to carry my stress.

I once heard an Indian-American speak about the word Namaste, which means "the god in me sees/acknowledges the god within you." This woman used this word from a Hindu context and re-purposed it: she taught us that it could also mean "Christ within me sees/acknowledges Christ within you." I thought this was a very powerful reflection about what it means to truly encounter people. Now when I hear it, such as today at yoga, I think of her and of her "translation." I also think of Jame' Cameron's movie Avatar, where the greeting between the super-supple blue cat people is "I see you." How often to we truly take the time to see one another, to acknowledge the human-ness or the child of God-ness in others? Not often enough is probably the answer.

Is this why God invented Skype? :)

Namaste.