lessons from 40 years of intermittent yoga

i've never really liked yoga. 

it's too much like stretching. i was always too impatient to do that before playing a sport or running.

 yoga doesn't offer a longer life but will make you feel better while living it.

i went from running 30 miles a week to limping to the bathroom in the morning because of plantar faciitis.  it took me over a year, but i cured it with downward dog.

i wasn't able to go back to my 10k road racing, but the bathroom (and other places) walk became a breeze.









child's pose, which is a resting pose for most people, was almost impossible for me until i cured my feet. they simply wouldn't go in that direction.

later, it helped me to stretch my shoulder after surgery.


i've been to many a yoga class with many different poses, but they all want you to count.

i like counting. 

it makes me feel accomplished, but i think counting defeats the purpose in yoga. 

it's not a race. you don't win if you do the most.









the best yoga for me is:

make it about breathing. exhale on your stretch.

go slow. this is the hardest for me. my mindset has always been that fast is better; but in yoga, the slowest stretch possible is the best stretch possible.

listen to your body. 

when it hurts, it's telling you something important. STOP! 

you don't have to get there today. yoga is a journey you make with your body. a turtle pace still gets you where you want to go.

i go to yoga classes to learn new poses and because it helps to make me do it. like i said, i find yoga to be really boring, so it helps me to have structure.

but it's not a competition. i don't care what you see others doing. you win by what you can do, not what they can do.

i don't empty my mind and meditate when i do yoga.

i don't think profound thoughts.

i am intensely focused on my body. on what it is telling me about itself. on where it needs help.

there are three parts of my body that speak the loudest.

my neck.

if you don't do anything else, stretch your neck muscles.

my hips.

they always seem to be tight.

my shoulders.

are always tight.

finally, a little goes a long way.

better to do five minutes a day than to do an hour every other week. it's true that you work on more parts in an hour long session. it's also true that five minutes a day is something anybody can work into their day.

even me.

those five minutes can depend on what part is giving you the most trouble.

or you can just stretch your neck muscles.

blind faith

"Truly I tell you," He said, "unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 18:3

i know a lot of people who have taken this verse to be a proponent for blind faith.

but children don't have blind faith.

when a baby cries, she is asking for food or comfort. she doesn't know that a parent is coming to meet her needs. 

a child asks.

if the parent answers that need over and over, the child comes to have faith that his needs will be met.

coming to god as a child is having a relationship with god as our caretaker, as the one who meets our needs.

some children are more trusting than others. most of us who are parents know that this is a combination of nurture AND nature. 

we used to joke in my house that i had my first child ten years later in male form... but it's not really true. they are each unique creatures.

dna is important.

it is the same with our relationship with god. we come as the children we are.

the people to whom jesus spoke had very different experiences with nurture and of nature. each person begins where they are and who they are.

my parents had good friends who were missionaries in tanzania and i got to know them well. i spent a lot of time with them researching for a book i never wrote.

betty told me that she never had doubts. that her faith in god had always been unwavering.

in spite of being baptist, she never remembered being saved. she remembered being baptized and the sunday school teacher who encouraged her. but she didn't think of that as a conversion experience but as another step in her faith journey.

my family was very involved with church. we participated in every activity, which meant i never got to see the disney's wonderful world of color or bonanza, the only shows in color when i was a child. (for those young people who don't know, they came on back to back on a sunday night back when baptists had services morning and night)

it was never in question. god came first. and god meant going to church.

i didn't miss much in not seeing those tv shows. for that matter i can see as much bonanza as i want on tnt. 😆

i was instilled with a love and faith in god that has followed me throughout my life.

... even through my doubts.

it was actually the bible that began my first doubts.

how many times did that cock really crow? how did they know what the angel said to jesus while they were sleeping? who was right, peter or paul?... and on and on.

in the sixties, my doubt grew greater. how could i reconcile the jesus of my childhood who loved all the little children to the hatred and violence i saw on tv.

i didn't know.

i didn't think of my family as racist. we were proud of our confederate heritage but it was somehow divorced from slavery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XmecbtaPxw

my eyes were opened in a way i could never shut them again. i questioned segregation from childhood; i was a wonder why kind of child.

i have written before of my mother taking vegetable soup and cornbread to our maid who had just had a baby, and how overwhelmed i was over where she lived. her baby lay on a spotlessly clean white bedspread, but i didn't understand why there was no crib. i didn't understand why the bed took up almost the whole room... the only room besides a very small kitchen.

i still say that experience says worlds about my mama.

mother teresa had doubts.

it bothered some people when her personal thoughts expressed doubt.

but how can you not when you live with people in such dire misery... 

i feel the same.



my faith isn't blind.

my faith is a choice.

i listened to the words of jesus and decided to follow.

33,000 denominations of christians

we've come a long way from that community of believers that came to be known as "little christs".

there seems to be one on every street corner.

some have really beautiful buildings

some have been around for a while and serve tiny communities.











with 33,000, you can infer that something has divided that tiny group of followers from the first century.

so what does it mean that there are 33,000 denominations that disagreed so much that they formed their own church?

i grew up southern baptist. we dunked. we made a profession of faith and got saved.

the presbyterians and methodists baptized babies. how could they be saved?



catholics worshipped idols and mary and they left jesus on the cross. enough said.

can we be the body of christ in such separate factions?

maybe.

it depends on our purpose.

is the church about being right or about serving others?

i taught for 32 years in the public school system in south carolina. i encountered many churches where i disagreed with much of their theology and conservative political beliefs, but they sent buses out to bring children from poor neighborhoods to their church. they provided after school activities for children for free.

i taught those children. they are not easy. they aren't even grateful half the time... they don't expect it to last. they know they have to go back to homes where life is hard.

but they have those moments, those times when they are valued... which go back with them.

are those churches living out the teachings of jesus?

absolutely.

my best friend is an african american. i have spent many sundays at her church over the years.

it definitely took me out of my comfort zone.

they let their children wander all over the church during the service. they praised jesus all over the place. they clapped and sang and lifted my spirit. the women all wore elaborate hats and dressed up while the boys were welcomed in whatever they were wearing.

the preacher had a thousand points, and the piano emphasized every one.

i came to absolutely love it.

my last years in south carolina, i went to a downtown church in greenville, sc. that was the most truly integrated church i have ever known, and it wasn't just black and white. it was rich and poor. it was men and women who lived on the streets and those who lived in houses of six figure worth. it had women (and men) doused in expensive perfume and those who needed a bath.

it was about as jesus-like a church as i've ever known. it combined and respected many church traditions.

the pastor is a highly educated woman who uses modern day stories and metaphors that are so meaningful in discussing what it means to be a christian. (very like my present pastor in port st. joe) my best friend thinks she's wonderful.

the music was full of african american spirituals and hymns i hadn't heard in years. my own daughter expanded their repertoire with george jones's would they love him down in shrieveport today? 

the music belongs to everybody.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rruFDALgV-o

hands wave and clap, voices are raised with amens and praise gods.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlStqRAh4y0

the homeless are ushers and take up the offering and some who can barely read read the daily scripture.

triune mercy center gives a picture of what makes the body of christ.

it's about celebrating all the parts. it's about letting feet be feet and lungs be lungs and not trying to judge people's value or contributions.

triune isn't a perfect church. it doesn't have all the answers.

but it's been an attempt to let everyone serve in the way they are called.

all these different churches have helped me to grow, to not be stuck in the familiar.

can 33,000 denominations be one church?

it depends.

can we acknowledge that we see through a glass darkly but walk in the light we receive?

the zen of luna

luna loves the wind








luna loves her comfort because she loves herself.

it's best when she shares it.

life is like that.

good times are meant to be shared

luna loves everyone who loves her.

and if you want, you can be her new best friend.

because any time is a good time for belly rubs.

luna takes good care of herself.

when she's tired, she rests

when she's thirsty, she demands a drink.

when it's in her interest, she does what others want her to

luna loves to eat, but it can be a social activity

because luna is so in tuned with herself, she is in tune with us. there are times when i'm feeling down and i won't even know it until luna gets in my face and makes me hold her.

understanding ourselves helps us to understand others.

i have learned so much from luna.

luna loves life.

every single joy filled minute.

luna doesn't remember the times when she has not been happy.

luna is having a great time today.

that is one of the great lessons from luna.

carpe diem - seize the day

take that walk, that trip, that whatever it is that i've wanted to do.

luna unabashedly loves herself, and she loves everyone else the same way.

the golden rule doesn't say to love others more than one's self, it says AS.

what luna has taught me is that loving others IS loving ourselves. real love always goes both ways. our lives are meant to be lived in loving ourselves, god's creation, and others, god's creation.

luna won't be with me forever.

but she will be with me forever in the life and wisdom she shares with me.

freedom isn't free

with liberty and justice for all.

i've mostly seen the bumpersticker or heard the saying freedom isn't free in relationship to our wars and the veterans that fought them.






i have nothing but respect for men and women veterans, and i feel deeply regretful of the homecoming the veterans of vietnam received.

it was the first time we saw the ugliness of war and the damage it does to both the civilian "collateral damage" and to the soldiers who fight.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/11/global-spirit-forgiveness-and-healing-in-vietnam_n_1665470.html

the blame was never with the soldiers but with the people who sent them from a comfortable distance away.

we did not bring freedom to vietnam. we did not bring freedom to our own country. we brought lasting damage to both countries both physically and spiritually.









real freedom comes from forgiveness of the wrong that was done on all sides.

that kind of freedom is costly.

http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/sixties/HTML_docs/Texts/Narrative/Henry_Forgive&Forget.html

but this blog is not about war. the problems with our recent conflicts would take another blog.

this blog is about freedom not being free.

this blog is about the cost of freedom in this country to bring about the liberty and justice for all that we pledge allegiance to.

for elizabeth eckford, freedom was not free.

she walked alone through a hate-filled crowd fearing for her life in order to exercise her right to get the same educational opportunities as her white peers.

one of the greatest costs for african american children to have the freedom to attend the same schools as white children was that of the parents who sent their beloved children into such danger.

for the parents of ruby bridges, they heroically sent their baby.





what do we mean by freedom in the united states?

no state would agree to ratify the constitution until the bill of rights became part of it.

the first amendment represented their top priority.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.


freedom from a government sanctioned religion

our forefathers, the ones who feared a national religion, gave us this national motto

e pluribus unum

out of many one










in the 1950's we moved to a government approved

freedom isn't free.
too often the minority must fight for the same rights as the majority. 

christianity and the belief in one god is the majority professed belief in this country. it is not the only one for whom religious freedom is extended.

freedom to practice any religion freely

that includes islam.

it included quakers.
it included huguenots.
it includes buddhists
it includes tribal beliefs.

non-christian believers pay a cost for their freedom. not only do they face intimidation and verbal persecution. they face the threat of physical persecution.


https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/18/us/politics/hate-crimes-american-muslims-rise.html

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/11/15/assaults-against-muslims-in-u-s-surpass-2001-level/



freedom of speech and of the press

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/02/AR2005100201237.html

journalists have risked prison and their careers to keep sources confidential. how many stories of corruption would have been stifled or unaddressed had they not fought for this? freedom of the press has always cost.

people in power will do everything to keep their crown
- mary gauthier

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQwu4wff7lI#action=share

the american civil liberties union has been an advocate of free speech since 1920.

they have defended the rights of flag burners, the kkk, conscientious objectors, nazis...

freedom of speech is a precious freedom extended to all.

https://www.aclu.org/issues/free-speech



freedom to peacefully assemble

also, costly

                                                         selma

 children's march

double v campaign of african american soldiers from world war II for victory from discrimination at home... like the victory they fought for abroad

(i didn't realize fox news has been spreading its agenda for so long)

freedom must sometimes be fought for from your own government


freedom to petition the government for the redress of grievances


african americans in the united states have had some pretty strong grievances.

for freedman after the civil war, they were not free men. they died at the whim of white people. four years of a bloody civil war gave them legal freedom. it didn't give them the freedom of other men. it did not give them freedom from being hung in front of smiling children.

freedom to poison our children with hatred also has a price, and african-americans have been fighting throughout our history for the freedom that hatred denies them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1hm5fxJEkY&list=RDz1hm5fxJEkY&t=69

freedom has never been free.