Healing with Companions

My friend Dana had 5 of her lady companions and her daughter for a yoga class and dinner on Tuesday night. Dana had bid on a private yoga class at a silent auction and won and hence she gathered her friends for a lovely night. We found the yoga practice rigorous and yet healing but the real healing came from the dinner and the sharing in the breaking of the bread that followed our yoga. One woman was dealing with hot flashes from menopause, another woman revealed her a challenging marriage to a man that was not kind and obviously had caused long term suffering, and another woman shared her story of the struggle with raising teenage children. One woman's daughter had just gotten engaged to a lovely young man and their family was excited about the upcoming wedding. We shared secret recipes of the soups Dana and her daughter made and covered other topics that brought insight for dealing with menopause and some of life's other matters.

As we sat at Dana's lovely table and ate as companions joy became apparent. I use the term companion deliberately as I love its Latin root "Companionem," which was, "one with whom you would eat bread" -- "Con" (with) and "Pan" (bread) -- presumably, your "companion" was someone with whom you would "break bread." Dana, thank you for your companionship and sharing your companions with all of us. In the breaking of bread my heart is lighter and my soul is healed.

Why Obama

My nephew Matthew, soon to be 9 years old, asked my why I was voting for Obama. He lives in Texas and his family is true "red". What Matthew does not know is that while we are young we follow our parents or peers' views. So when I was young I would vote exactly as my parents for I trusted their integrity. As an adult, I must trust myself to choose with integrity. Based on what I hope for the future, for Matthew's future, I began researching more of what it was about Obama that called me to vote for him. It really was nothing against McCain; it is more that Obama represents a hopeful change. A change that will make not only the US better but the world. Obama does not seem red or blue. Obama captures what I hope to be the future of America which is really no longer red or blue but purple, the blend of the best of both the red republicans and the blue democrats. America's borders surrounded and "protected by water" no longer need to be protected but to protect the entire world's freedom. For me I have become hopeful for a global republic, based on the concept that sovereignty resides in the people, who delegate the power to rule in their behalf to elected representatives and officials. We need to choose wisely all leaders.

I would say I am both republican and democrat as I want government "these leaders we choose" that supports people and supports peoples' ability to achieve success measured by freedom for all rights. However, as we have seen with the financial crisis we are in, we need a just government made up of people with integrity to doing the right thing. Do we raise taxes? Probably we need to raise taxes. Why? We have a war to fund, we have our collapsed banking and capital markets system without it's propping up by "the people" (the people being defined as the taxpayers), all companies big and small would not meet payroll.

It's a huge cycle of dependence and responsibility. We depend on every person, particularly those leading companies and countries to have integrity and for us "the people" to have integrity. Both candidates have the capacity to lead, both candidates have the capacity for integrity. Who is the best choice, for me I choose Obama for his integrity to his campaign focus and for the work he did as senator and his commitment to the poor. Obama recognizes that poverty whether here in the US or globally affects all of us. As people become fed and housed and educated, they desire better lives and wants; everything we call the "American dream". Obama will embrace the Millennium Development Goal of cutting extreme poverty around the world in half by 2015, and he "we" will double our foreign assistance to $50 billion to achieve that goal. He "we" will help the world's weakest states to build healthy and educated communities, reduce poverty, develop markets, and generate wealth. This too will cost us tax dollars, but in the end we will all have better lives if everyone has a better life.

I think we need a change in the government, in corporate business leadership and in us. A change of attitudes where people have integrity to truth, to justice and to caring for one another. We need to change ourselves and take personal responsibility for living beyond our means, for being complacent in our work, our eating, our religious commitments, and our personal commitments.
I am choosing to be personally responsible to my vote and to the winner whoever it is, so that we galvanize as a country and become once again a people who represent freedom for all.

The Mad Scientist

Last night was Halloween and it is one of my most favorite nights as I love to put on my warm pajamas, have a glass of wine maybe two, light my candles and eagerly greet the children who come to the door. A little power ranger and his spider man brother were first and then the little princess and batman brother, my neighbors children and then of course a variety of others including a great "Jack" from the jack in the box commercial, quite clever. His friends helped him maneuver down the porch steps, as he was certainly top heavy. The highlight of the night was a little 9 year old (I asked him his age), dressed as a mad scientist. What made him special was that he played the character, and without saying trick or treat he stated that he carried a smoking pipe which he reached into his little white lab coat and pulled out to show me. Over his arm hung a little green umbrella and he carried a simple "green" bag about the size of what you would carry for your lunch. I called to Joe to come see our little scientist who also had some back streaks across his delicate face, suggesting a scientific experiment had exploded and our scientist told us he had many experiments that did not go quite work so well. My night felt complete for I had seen the face of God dress as a mad scientist and I will fondly remember him forever.

White Space

I was in a meeting yesterday regarding data centers and for one particular client they had so space/capacity for more information or servers/systems to accommodate requirements for a merger. The people in the room talked of their need for white space. I found this concept interesting and then thought of my own need for white space especially at that moment of total saturation into a conversation. White space we need for ourselves. Even on Monday I was speaking briefly to my neighbor who was so busy running her children to and fro that she did not have white space. White space is generally a term used in journalism to remind us to not over clutter a newspaper but to allow white space so that articles can be easily read. White space in our context yesterday was for datacenters needing more space. White space for me is finding room in my mind so as to be. Finding white space lately has been difficult: no time for walking, meditating or the calming activities that bring the mind rest and allow for white space to emerge. As I write I am experience presence and focus and so for me my white space may be now. I exhale and inhale and the white space appears.

Grace of Jessica

My niece Jessica wed Jason her college sweetheart on October 11, 2008. It was beautiful wedding weekend including the rehearsal dinner hosted by Mary Ellen and Damien, her parents. What struck most deeply about the week amidst many beautiful and memorable moments was the grace of Jessica, the bride to be. Throughout the events including time at the nail salon with many of her aunts, cousins and grandma Mickey, Jessica's humility and love for all of us was evident. Here was a bride so filled with grace, she made her day abut us. She took pictures of us. Later that evening we were together for the fall themed rehearsal dinner with beautiful white lights, candles and warm cider and Jessica and Jason visited with their priest, their friends and all of us with a gentleness and kindness. Alas, the most evident presence of grace was when Jessica was ready to depart to the church for her wedding ceremony. Jessica and her sisters and mom had prepared themselves, all but getting into their dresses including the bride so the dresses were to be placed into the trunk of the limo. Jessica was in the limo first, sitting calmly, peacefully and truly filled with the grace of God, as her sisters were in flurry of scurry as they gathered all their dresses and required accouterments as her bridesmaids. Never did Jessica seem moved in worry on running late or concern in the least. Her calm presence of mind, body and spirit grounded the sisters and probably the mother. I recall this line from 1 Corinthian's 15:3, "Grace is an attitude of God towards mankind by which He provides a benefit, without consideration of merit." Jessica presented an attitude to all of us and her husband that reflected the love of God to all of us without consideration of merit.

1000 Unshed Tears

Our friend's daughter Ariana could not find her new book that she had purchased from Scholastic Book program. It was a new yoga book that had just arrived and had she already absorbed enough so as to show us all a Sun Salutation. Ariana cried tears when she could not find the book to show me. No one could understand such tears over her book, no one except maybe me. I know that her mom had survived breast cancer and was still bald from the chemo treatments she had just finished. No one thought of her little friend's mother who was also battling a very serious illness and was in the hospital even that evening and no one was thinking about her Uncle Mark who had been in a car accident some 10 years earlier causing him to remain in a vegetative stated in a local convalescent hospital. Ariana's tears may have been at some subconscious level the 100o unshed tears of the suffering so present in the life of her immediate family. Cry them out my dear Ariana; shedding tears is watering the heart as is rainfall for the earth.

Shannon

Many thoughts this week ran through my head on matters of the heart and yet the pull of capitalism and need to work kept me from my thinking so that I could get the task list done.

This morning, however, I was again pondering the matters of the week and know that I must write. I spent time with my friend Shannon last Saturday. Here is a young woman, mother of a brand new baby daughter and toddler son and married to a man who has been on permanent disability since shortly after they wed. Shannon's spirit is filled with love and commitment to her family and her friends. She lives life fully knowing what's most important. Shannon is in great shape, here just 6 weeks ago she had Sarah and while I am huffing and puffing up and down the emerald hills in Redwood City, Shannon holds her baby daughter in a front pack while I attempt the steep hill pushing her son, Shannon lovingly says and without loss of breath, "how about I push for a while, the stroller is heavy". I of course, say nothing as I am completely out of breath and just let her take over, now that is a good friend. Shannon your spirit is alive with what I imagine my God be like. While thinking of what I value most, my family and friends came to mind and a tinge of sudden concern that God was not "first" on my list. It was in that moment inspired but something greater than I it was apparent for that the only God I know is the God in Jesus, the God in Shannon and the God within all people. Perhaps this thinking is way beyond appropriate to my Christian faith and yet, as I see God in all people all people become so much more valuable to me. Humanity becomes divine when they push the stroller, care for the sick husband and invite the friend for a walk. Who do you say that God is?