Advent 2016

Well, hard to believe it is that time again...perhaps the reality to me of it being Advent was hastened yesterday, by our first snow of the season here in Chicago. A good six inches that covered everything in a white, downy blanket. I love the silence that the first snow brings.

As in other years, I find myself meditating on the drama of that first Christmas, and which personage in the drama I identify with the most this season. This season, it has to be Mary.

I think this is because although full of a desire to be obedient to the unique call of God on her life, I cannot help but think that a few days after she had that short interchange with the angel Gabriel, she began to wonder...and think to herself, "What on earth have I signed up for?" I think that would be a very normal, human reaction for Mary to experience. Especially after her fiancee Joseph, upon hearing of her being pregnant, initially considered divorcing her. Great. Just what she needed. Thankfully--God sent an angel to him too--and things were worked out on that relational front.

Nonetheless, the plan of God for this young couple did not mean a life of ease--instead it resulted in them having to leave their home and homeland, and be guided by angels in a foreign land. God will guide, but it doesn't mean it will be easy. If you feel like Mary this year too, may God send his angels to guide and protect you on your way of His path for you.

Holy Week and the Body

Several years ago, I attended a church of the Anglican tradition. This was more than a few twigs away from the Pentecostal roots of my childhood (and yes, there are still some deep roots there!). I had rarely seen a crucifix...but they are very present in the Anglo/Catholic branch of the Christian  family tree. So, when I went to Massage Therapy School in 2011, something in me began to reflect on the significance of the visual impact of the Suffering Servant, Jesus Christ depicted on the cross.

Christianity is the faith tradition that takes our embodiment the most seriously...after all, we believe that God came to Earth IN THE FLESH. This is no small matter. If He came in the flesh--that means he had a heart, skin, blood, and bones like all of us. He experienced life like we do. He enjoyed the sun onhis face, hearing singing birds, a home cooked meal (I wonder what his favorite was), a swim in the Sea of Galilee, etc. But his being one of us also means he suffered. And this is a very important point,because many people wonder if God really cares. 

See, many folks picture God as being distant and untouched by life here on earth. Yet the very name given to Jesus at his birth was Immanuel, which means "God With Us." He is not distant. For humans, suffering is excruciating in itself, but if isolated, it is unbearable. On the other hand, if God is with us,then we are not alone in our suffering and pain. I had a history prof in undergrad who stated that the depictions of Jesus have changed throughout the centuries...and that the crucifixion of Christ did not show up in art until relatively late...like the Middle Ages when the Plague hit. Why he asked? Because when all chaos and hell broke loose--we needed to know God was in it with us. 

Why had we not wanted to be more aware of this? At the high point of his earthly ministry, right in the middle of Holy Week (during the last supper) Jesus said, "This is my body, broken for you." Pain, suffering, hurt...this is why this Pentecostal girl bought a crucifix for the first time in her life several years ago. To remind herself that He knows about suffering in our broken world.

Advent Meditation...2015

You know,
Why didn't God do it different?
It all could have been so much less scandalous...
Could have waited until Mary and Joseph were married,
    So people wouldn't later accuse him of being a bastard.
Could have been born in a higher social class,
Could have belonged to the race in power,
Could have spoken to only his own people,
Could have not turned a lot of water into over 360 bottles of $50 wine at a party,
Could have waited a day or two--and not healed on the sabbath,
        After all, what was one more day of suffering?
Could have not talked to so many women,
        And not let them be the first witnesses of His Resurrection.
Could have had fewer meals with all those people whose lifestyle we won't condone,
Could have not actually cast demons out by name,
Could have not rebuked the esteemed religious leaders of the day,
Could have not challenged people quite so much,
So that he would have not been accused of blasphemy and murdered.

You know,
He should have followed the appropriate 'chain of command,'
and showed some respect.
He could have been more mindful of how things had always been done,
They were working so well.

God came,
In Person.
To show us a new way.
God's way. The Good Way.
The way of love and sacrifice.
Because we still had it wrong.

11/27/2015 --P Trice

Does Faith Mature over Generations?

     So, what if God's revelation over all time has been unfolding--not because God has changed, but because humanity could only change/integrate/understand more about who God is over centuries. In other words, what if faith not only matures in an individual (developmental process), but also occurs over generations?

For example:
     Just as parents teach and raise their children...simple commands come first. The parent may give explanations for various rules--but those are usually NOT understood by the child. How many times does a parent have to tell a toddler ambling toward a street "NO!!!" with a quick, but firm redirection. This one word "No!" at this point means: "DON'T GO OUT INTO THE STREET!!! They may even build a fence around the yard.

     Then imagine a child's COMPLETE surprise then when a parent picks a child up or holds them by the hand and crosses a street with them!!! "What?" the child thinks,  "I thought I wasn't supposed to go near that thing called a street..." Then a child learns about cars--and their danger...but wait, the child thinks, "We ride in one of those all the time...what is dangerous?" Then there are times when strange things are put at the end of the road and the family has a big party with all the neighbors in the MIDDLE OF THE STREET that is usually labeled dangerous! This must be really confusing!

     Later the child learns, it's ok to go/cross a street by yourself--just when no cars are coming. As children mature--we even let them drive one of those dangerous cars! And THEN, maybe at some point, they may understand that they may even choose to go out in the street WHEN a car is
coming (!) to save someone else's life....
     So, perhaps this is why the Ten Commandments (basically "DON'T GO OUT INTO THE
STREET") get boiled down over time, to simply "LOVE God and your neighbor." What if THAT is simply what God has been trying to get us to understand and live the entire time....not only in each individual life, but down through the eons of time.

     I think this may be what Paul the Apostle meant when he wrote to the church at Galatians who were trying to figure out if following the Jewish laws were required to be a follower of Jesus. Paul writes:

     "So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.....for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has ANY value. The ONLY thing that counts is FAITH expressing itself through LOVE."  Galatians 3:24-25 and 5:6.

Simplicity...

So, been thinking about the fact that God does not require anything of us but for us to be honest with ourselves and who God has made us to be. No more. No less. Although we are inspired by many people in our lives, God still wants us to be us. Not them.
No more. No less.
So be you.
The poet Rumi stated it thus, "Sing your note...LOUD!"

Risks and Burns...

     So, this past weekend I took and passed my Motorcycle Safety Class, and will be able to get my motorcycle license in about a month. Woo Hoo!  One of the things they emphasize in class--for safety's sake--is the acronym: ATGATT. This stands for:"All The Gear, All The Time." This means you must wear protective gear (most car drivers do not see motorcyclists, and all that is between you and the pavement is your own skin if you are not wearing protective gear). Gear includes full length jeans, ankle high boots, jean/leather jacket, leather gloves, goggles/eye protection and  a HELMET. So--I got my gear--and was very careful to wear it at all times. In fact, I was so concentrating on this fact, that I missed the obvious (a rather normal  occurrence in my life) and FORGOT TO WEAR SUNSCREEN!!! Therefore,  I got a sunburn on my face like you would not believe! It was very overcast this past weekend—and although I wore my polarized goggles... Let's just say I look like a raccoon in reverse! LOL!

 I have wanted to ride a motorcycle for YEARS—ever since age 8 when one of my neighbors got a minibike—and didn't share it. :( My father did get me a motorcycle (1968 Honda 90cc) when I was a senior in high school—but I could only take back roads. The gears seized up if you went over 30mph! Here is a picture of what it looked like:

     So, it was high time I got back on a bike--and the course was only $20! It was taught by some fantastic folks (Thanks Ted and Jim!) and had some very supportive classmates. My only challenge was the motorcycle that I was assigned to for class was a Honda 250cc Nighthawk that refused to stay in neutral! LOL! Halfway through the class they finally changed me over to a Suzuki. Overall though, I had a BLAST!

     Lets just say the sunburn was worth it--I learned so much! This is a great metaphor for life. When we do new things and take risks, we are likely to get a few scrapes/burns in the process. And sometimes, more often than not, I miss the obvious. But, it is still worth branching out, risking, and growing! I will never forget how to ride--and whenever I do get my own bike--I will be sure to wear sunblock (ATGATT!!!)

Re-Centering on God

      Wow--its been almost a year since I have written a post. This in itself is informative to me. Let me explain:

     This past year I have been in the process of deep growth and discernment. One of the time-proven methods of discernment comes to us through Ignation Spirituality which highlights the concepts of "consolation vs. desolation." In other words--as we go through our lives and decision making, we should overall experience "consolation," that is, a sense of peace and surety, even amidst trials vs. "desolation" or an increase in confusion and distress. Jesus himself promises us that He came that we might "have life and have it to the full." (John  10:10). This does not mean that we do not experience any difficulty in life--but it DOES mean the general trajectory should be one of increased joy, peace, contentment, and service to others. I learned many things this past year--but overall I was experiencing a great deal of anxiety as I was trying to discern. What is interesting, is that as I "reset" my course and recentered my relationship to God--an incredible amount of energy has re-surged in me--abundant LIFE! I have found myself journaling more, writing more (hence this post), and even painting more:
                                                               "California Poppies"   (P. Trice 6/6/2015)

Honestly, whenever my relationship with God is squared away, everything else seems to fall into place. So the adventure continues...One of my favorite musicians, Snatam Kaur has written these lyrics:

Take Me In (Snatam Kaur from CD: The Light of the Naam)
   (See:  You Tube: Take me in )

In the grace of thy heart,
In the flow of this crazy, crazy life,
I meditate on Thy Name
Burning inside
Like a warm, warm flame,

Reprise:
Take me in, take me in
To Where I end and You begin
To the place where I don't know
Exactly how the story will go
In Your love, In Your love
I can finally breathe
I can finally be me.

As the sun rises in the sky
My soul has already taken flight
Nothing more can I say
I serve Thy Light
Each and every day

(Reprise).
Wahe Guru (trans: the ecstatic experience of God)

May you all find your path to a deeper connection/centering in God--and the resultant peace, joy and life more abundant.

What Do We Believe?

I finished a book several months ago, titled,  "Heretics: The Creation of Christianity" by Jonathan Wright. It is/was very interesting read. His main premise is that Orthodox Christianity likes to suggest that it has always believed the basic things since the church's inception--but in fact,this has not been the case. The Church has worked out what it defines as "Orthodoxy" over the centuries. What has been labeled as heresy is often what has been needed to help spur the church on to clarify its stance on various doctrines. The truth is, there has been great variation within the Church on what is believed to be orthodox teaching.

In fact, as I read the book, I became a bit concerned. Why? Because as an adult, right this very minute, I hold at least 5 beliefs that people at one time in church history were chased out of town, punished or even martyred for:
      1. Believer's (adult) Baptism (vs. infant baptism).
      2. Having the Bible in your own language (vs. Latin).
      3. Ordination of Women to the Priesthood (vs. soley men)
      4. Importance of Icons.
      5. Active gifts of the Spirit.
Yes-people--fellow Christians were once punished, excommunicated--and even murdered over these beliefs by other Christians. This is appalling to me! What really sobers me is this: that right now, we may hold "orthodox" beliefs now that we might determine are wrong in the future! Yikes!!! And this is no small question. Just as in the past, people's well-being, and even their lives are at stake.

So, my next thought is, what does it look like to humbly say: "We don't know?" Many times we act as if every belief we hold is required for eternal salvation. I once heard a very well-respected Christian theologian say in a chapel service, "The older I get, the fewer things I am willing to die for." I think I am coming to the same conclusion. St. Augustine of Hippo wrote:
              "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity."
So, given that Augustine said, "in all things charity," we may do well to start from there while we try to determine the" essential" from the "non-essentials." It is my guess that the "essentials" are a lot fewer in number than we might like to admit. And we as the Church may find many more people coming into our doors vs. being told they can't come in unless they believe as we do. God help us.

Rumi-nations....

     Well-my new favorite read is Rumi--the 13c Persian mystic. How I got a copy of "The Essential Rumi" ( a 300+ page collection of his works/translated by Coleman Barks) is a great story. I was in a bookstore, looking at a small collection/sample (less than 50 pages) of his poetry. I felt guilty--the inner voices said "he is a Muslim mystic--wont you be unfaithful to God if you read it?" So--I put it back on the shelf and went up to the checkout with my other purchases. THREE DAYS LATER, I was with a good friend having brunch, when she whipped out a bag and said--hey--I got you a Christmas present--I hope you don't already have it...and it was--you guessed it: THE ESSENTIAL RUMI !!!! :) I laughed out loud right there and felt God saying--"Well, if you can't buy it for yourself, I will GIVE IT TO YOU!!! YOU NEED TO READ THIS!!!"

     Rumi's work--prose and poetry is simply some of the most incredible work I have ever read. His reflections, or pardon the pun, Ruminations :), on God, the contemplative life, and spiritual growth, are like a glass of refreshing ice water to the soul...I don't even know where to start--my words would seem effusive unless you have read it and know what I am talking about...so, here is an appetizer for you all: one of his poems, called "The Pickaxe:"

The Pickaxe
Some commentary on "I was a hidden treasure,
and I desired to be known"; tear down
this house. A hundred thousand new houses
can be built from the transparent yellow carnelian
buried beneath it, and the only way to get to that
is to do the work of demolishing and then
digging under the foundations. With that value
in hand all the new construction will be done
without effort. And anyway, sooner or later this house
will fall on its own. The jewel treasure will be
uncovered, but it won’t be yours then. The buried
wealth is your pay for doing the demolition,
the pick and shovel work. If you wait and just
let it happen, you’d bite your hand and say,
“I didn’t do as I knew I should have.” This
is a rented house. You don’t own the deed.
You have a lease, and you’ve set up a little shop,
where you barely make a living sewing patches
on torn clothing. Yet only a few feet underneath
are two veins, pure red and bright gold carnelian.
Quick! Take the pickaxe and pry the foundation.
You’ve got to quit the seamstress work.
What does the patch-sewing mean, you ask. Eating
and drinking. The heavy cloak of the body
is always getting torn. You patch it with food,
and other restless ego-satisfactions. Rip up
one board from the shop floor and look into
the basement. You’ll see two glints in the dirt.  --Rumi

So, start digging for your treasure my friends--don't settle for anything less. --Pam

Top Reads of my 45 Year Life....

Hi gang! Thought I would share with you my favorite books, i.e., those texts that have been the most formative in my own personal life. These are the books that I revisit and have re-read regularly over the past decade or so. Ironically, two of them were purchased from "sale racks" which given their incredible content, I can only assume the bookstore owners never read them or they would have instead charged triple! Nonetheless--here they are:

       1. New Seeds of Contemplation (by Thomas Merton) a wonderful, thoughtful read on being a contemplative.

       2. The Impact of God (by Ian Matthews) A very accessible primer on St. John of the Cross--basically his profound ideas for the regular person like you and me. I have never read his actual stuff--I understand it is thick to wade through.

       3. A Clearing Season:Refections for Lent (by Susan Parsons) A gentle approach on Lent...good for those of us who tend tend to live an introspective life...and can overdo it if not careful during lent :)

       4.The Suffering of God (Terrence Frietheim). Highlights all the verses about God's deep love in the Old Testament that "Hellfire" preachers unfortunately seem to have forgotten...I am changed each time I read it.

       5. Gospel of John--my fav gospel. How can you go wrong reading the reflections of the disciple whom "Jesus loved?" Interestingly enough, John's main theme is indeed love. How much God loves us and how much God wants us to love one another. A mystic if there ever was one!

Keep Warm!  :) Pam

Ah....Advent...

Advent is truly my favorite time of year. Although many people experience this season as a rather chaotic swirl of parties, meetings, travel plans, gift wrapping, food prep etc...I am most entranced by the fact that this season celebrates God coming to us. God comes. Why is this so important to me?

I think at various times in my life--I am not sure where I am or where I am going. It brings me immeasurable comfort to know that in these times, God can come to me. God does not always expect me to figure everything out on my own and do all the work by myself. In fact, many times God comes to us--and for me, Advent is the representation of all those times when God comes when I need it the most.

Advent is also about waiting for this coming...I can get all flustered and look for bells,whistles, and fireworks--but often God shows up in things that you might miss if you were not attending to them. One thing about Mary...once she said "Yes" to God it was set in motion and was going to happen. She really couldn't do anything to make it all happen faster or slower--9 months is the general waiting period for pregnancy--but it was going to happen. I think the same is true for us. When we really say "Yes" to God--even if it is inaudible to others and is only whispered in our hearts--God hears, and the plan begins to unfold. It is going to happen.

So, in this waiting time...when God's arrival is immanent, what do we do? We prepare. Just like new parents who begin dreaming of how their lives change (they have NO IDEA really...), they get a room ready, purchase a crib, find clothes, diapers, dishes, bottles, etc...to do all they can to be READY--even though people who are already parents know all this preparation is mostly to give nervous people something to do. Because when the truth is told...could we ever really be ready for such a coming?

We think we know what it is going to look like. The people between the testaments had 400 years to prepare. You would think they would be ready. Or maybe they got tired of waiting. Or maybe they thought God forgot and had moved on. Or maybe they thought they had heard God wrong..or....whatever. Nobody thought a baby born in a stable could be God. THAT couldn't be the plan...and yet, that was EXACTLY the plan. And for those who were listening and watching for it--God let them know that indeed--it was happening before their very eyes.

So to me, Advent is a time of watching, waiting, and preparing--for surely God will come to us.

"Not like that....!"

     Lately, I have been sitting with the fact of how often people (often the religious leaders of the time) didn't like how Jesus did things. In other words, they would basically tell him...."Not like that...!" which really took a lot of nerve given that He is God and all.

    What has particularly spurred on my reflection is a passage from the lectionary from several weeks ago--the story about a crippled woman who was healed by Jesus on the Sabbath (see Luke 15:10-17). Jesus was teaching in the local synagogue--and he noticed a woman in the audience who was "bent over and could not straighten up at all." She had been like that for 18 years. From a somatic perspective, can you imagine, in early Palestine, what being bent over for 18 years would do to your psyche as a woman? I think the woman should be given credit for even showing up for synagogue! She must have been very devout. (I know I have stayed in bed on a given sabbath for lesser reasons. I digress). She was there. Maybe even to see Jesus...we don't know. But we do know, that even though she did not draw attention to herself by crying out to him for healing--HE SAW HER...and called her forward and said, "Woman, you are set free from your infirmity." Then he put his hands on her (gotta love it--that was another "no-no" in that culture!) and it says she "immediately straightened up and praised God."

     Isn't that beautiful? Can you imagine being a witness to this healing? It says earlier in the passage that she had been "crippled by a spirit"--so that she had experienced not only limitations on herself physically--but perhaps spiritually she had been bound as well. And as soon as she was healed--her response? TO PRAISE GOD!

     Now, the very next verse sets up quite a contrast...the synagogue ruler got all bent out of shape (hmmm, wonder where the crippling spirit had come from...) and told the people in essence, "Come get healed on the other six days--not the sabbath." In the vernacular, he was protesting, 'The Kingdom of God is "Not like that!"...it should look like THIS (insert our beliefs and rules about how God 'should' work)...

JESUS WAS FURIOUS! And called the leader out--saying, very politely (-not-):
     "YOU HYPOCRITES!!! You are willing to untie your animals on the sabbath to lead them to water--why in heaven's name would you not let me "untie" this woman who has been bound for 18 years?????"
    Jesus was really steamed. These people had their "spiritual priorities" all wrong! He brings wholeness to a woman who had been suffering for 18 YEARS--and they are all upset how He did it. Yeah. If we want God to do a "new thing" by definition it can't be done in the old way.

      In this passage, Jesus also calls this woman "a daughter of Abraham"...such a tender phrase, really. She is recognized as being included in the covenant when women had so few "places" in that day and age. One of the regular prayers prayed by devout Jewish men of the day in essence, thanked God that they had not been created as women. In another passage (John 8) Jesus has a discussion with the leaders about who are the true children of Abraham...those who live by faith, and do the will of the Father. Back to the synagogue, it says that "His opponents (religious leaders) were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing." I don't think it takes a degree in theology to recognize which response brought joy to God's heart.

So--in what areas of your life is God moving in unconventional ways? It may ruffle some feathers--oh well. What would we rather have? The commendation of God or the praise of other people? We know what they did to Jesus--they persecuted him and crucified him. But that is not the end of the story--He triumphantly rose up from the dead--He invites us to do the same with Him by the power of the Spirit. Thanks be to God.

September 17, 2013 --Feast Day of Hildegard von Bingen  (12 century German Christian mystic).

Born Again...Does God have a Womb?

Well, my journey continues: trying to understand how we as women uniquely reflect the image of God. Yesterday, as I was praying and reading, the thought came to me, The phrase "born again" is a reference to a feminine experience!This hit me like a ton of bricks! Having grown up as a conservative Evangelical, the term "born again" was used constantly (almost to the point of losing meaning) as a description of having had an "experience" of becoming aware of relating to God in a new and close way. BUT IT NEVER DAWNED ON ME that only WOMEN GIVE BIRTH so that this phrase is pregnant with meaning (sorry, couldn't resist!) for women.

So, what do we do? If we are "born of God" and "born again" and "born of the Spirit...." these are feminine references about God's action, addressing the fundamental process of being initiated into the family of God. How can there not be a feminine dimension to God? How I never made this connection until I was 45 years old is beyond me...how did THAT happen??? I will have to get back to you on that...but it continues to reinforce in my mind, the fact that NOT using all the images for God provided in Scripture is actually a HUGE issue.

Dr. Kristina Lacelle-Peterson (Chair of the Department of Religion at Houghton College) writes:

Since God is, in fact, referred to with female imagery in various biblical texts, the question is not whether using female images for God will draw us away from orthodox Christianity, but whether using exclusively male metaphors will so distort our view of God as to render our concept of God unbiblical. Put simply: If we reject an entire class of biblical metaphors do we still have a biblical [orthodox] understanding of God?

Why is this all coming up now? Not fully sure. But psychologists know (yeah, I'm one of them) that when we hit midlife, we often reevaluate the first half of life, take stock, and determine what was missing and what we want to make sure we address in the second half of life. Well--what has been missing for me is how I opened this brief post: I am wanting to gain a fuller understanding of what it means for myself as a woman to reflect the image of God.

Woo Hoo! What a ride this second half is going to be!!!!!!

Prayer

Gracious Heavenly Father,
How thankful we are to not be "left as orphans.”

We acknowledge with grateful hearts that we are not “Fatherless”

But hear our cry, O Father,
Are we in this day, nonetheless, left to be “Motherless?”

Hear us, in your Mercy, O God:
We have voiced our plight to our brothers,
       Courageous among them have responded and affirmed,
       And some of them have also been ridiculed.
       Yet unlike Zelophedad's daughters
       Many continue to deny us our inheritance in Your Kingdom.

To whom now shall we turn?
There is no where else to go but to You,
    Creator of our own souls, made also in Your image.
    When justice is denied,
     And the oppressed are powerless in their plight,
We turn to You.
We cast ourselves on Your mercy,
Seek you with ashes on our hearts,
And rend our souls.
Fasting from seeking power and positions,
We seek You, God of all,
And long to hear You speak.

What have we lost,
By not knowing all of who You are?
We would never want to presume,
But seek the Truth of all Your Fullness.

We seek not only for ourselves,
But for the sake of Your Church.
She is often powerless in our day,
     Defrocked due to disobedience and abuses.
Hear us O God,
Not only for ourselves,
But for a world that needs You desperately,
And as Women,
We wonder if our time in You is now.     -Pamela Trice  7/25/2013

What/Who is Energy/Chi?

One of my instructors in massage therapy school was Randy Cummins, a Shiatsu practitioner in Chicago. I so appreciated his thoughtful and "chill" approach to teaching us. Several months ago I read a past post on his blog about "My Relationship with Chi (Energy)" and thought it was so sublime--that I wanted to share it with you all:

      The moment I heard that voice, the eternal hum, resonating and reverberating throughout my physical and energetic bodies, in that instant, I knew it was love.

      Chi – primal and eternal, motivator of action, purveyor of dreams, elusive by nature, saturating by design.

      My energetic soul mate and I have walked hand in hand, informed by the sage council of Shoshin Shiatsu, sharing with us its preventative properties, its base wisdom of stretching the fascia, opening and lubricating the joints, balancing the effects of gravity and emotion.

      The work continues to open slowly to me, informing my connection to the breath. The breath, my most intimate of all teachers . . . constant companion in this life journey, showing me with all immediacy the importance of being in the moment. Giver and sustainer of life, an anchor to my wandering mind, keeper of my hara fire, eternal example of taking in all inspiration and letting go . . . giving all with every exhale.

      In the context of Shiatsu, the breath as viewed in another and self, two-edged vajra, dissolving illusion, moving one into witness.

      The breath of practitioner, again sustains and centers, enhances connection through palpation, floats the weight of the hand down on a cloud of intention, sinking through skin, penetrating muscle, entering bone energy, clearing a path to the house of the true self.

       To have the faith in self to pull back, wait till the mud settles and the water clears, so one can recognize the underlying cause of it all – the kyo (yin) behind the outward jitsu imbalance (yang). The woman behind the crime, to paraphrase from the Neijing.

       A continuous process of letting go of result, expectation, adulation . . .  learning to honor and respect the pause . . . the stillness at the beginning and end of all movement . . . till we are delivered to the door of beginner’s mind.  --Randy Cummins,  May 25, 2012   (Black Swan Productions)

Two things....

One, This is a beautiful description of how a practitioner not only approaches their work--but also their life. I have always been fascinated with the concept of integrity--i.e., what you see is what you get--no matter "where you slice it!" When something is integrated--it is fully itself--to its core. My own best work flows not from my training (although that helps) but from my PERSON. This is particularly true of any work that is interpersonal in nature.

Secondly, I appreciate the fact that this description of chi/energy is conceptualized as feminine. I think few men understand how healing it is to have something written that affirms the feminine in such a powerful way. 

As I have mentioned in another post (I think :) the Hebrew word in the Jewish sacred writings (Old Testament) for "Spirit/Wind/Breath" is "ruach" which is feminine. It is unfortunate that in the Christian sacred writings (New Testament) the Greek word for "spirit" is "pneuma" which is neuter. In the West, we have a pretty negative view of anything that is "neutered." Although I must admit, it is a rather fitting "fix" we have in our Christian traditions that have in most cases "neutered" the power of the Spirit of God. How we got from a "feminine spirit" to a "neutered it" is a theological concern.

Gendered language makes an impact....more than we know until we read something that catches us by surprise.....

Ethics Embodied 2: Moral Muscles

Been awhile...and summer invites us to a different rhythm of life. Nonetheless, this July 4th I am thinking about the things that we believe are worth "fighting for" and how this relates to the previous post on Embodied Ethics. The founders of our country believed that certain freedoms are worth "fighting for." One could say this belief was pat of their moral tissue--or moral "muscle" if you will.

Moral muscle...hmmm. That has me thinking. How strong are our moral muscles? What and Who are we willing to fight for? The Oppressed in the world are often not lacking moral muscle, but are rather being overpowered by individuals and systems that are unjust. Will we engage our "moral muscles" to fight on their behalf? Will we embody our ethics? What would it look like to flex our Moral Muscles and fight back poverty, discrimination, hatred, hunger, corruption,...

Embodied Ethics. Let's put some Muscle behind it!

Moral Tissues...Ethics Embodied

 Edith Wharton (1862-1937) wrote the following in her novel "Sanctuary" (1903) about a mother who is trying to guide her son...

"It was part of her discernment to be aware that life is the only real counselor, that wisdom unfiltered through personal experience does not become a part of the moral tissues." (p. 123)

There is a lot packed in this little statement I think. First, I think unfiltered wisdom in our day and age is actually called "knowledge". Knowledge about things can be interesting, but what to do with knowledge, applied knowledge, is actually called "wisdom."  And wisdom comes from experience. So...what about the phrase "moral tissues?" That's a new one for me....but...this was written in 1903. I think this is a fascinating somatic idiom, the idea of "moral tissue." Maybe said another way: Ethics cannot simply be a cognitive or intellectual exercise...although clear and rigorous thinking must be part of its formation. Ethics and morality must also become a part of our "moral tissues"...a part of the very fiber of our beings, i.e., ethics must be embodied.  This a challenge for all of us. When the rubber hits the road, when the birds come home to roost, when the gig is up...you name it....our moral fiber is being tested to see if it is really true. We embody what we believe, more than we know.

Translating: From One Field to Another....

It has long been a calling of mine, to be a bridge person. Another way to say this is that I often find myself translating concepts of one discipline to the understanding of another. This in itself is ironic, because it is my elder sister who is the one who has a PhD in Linguistics! Lucky for me, I don't have to be able to spell or pronounce the words I use (thank God for spellcheck)...I just get to write about them :)

So...what is the latest translation/bridge I am working on? It is the translation of the concept of energy, Chi, or Qi--which Bodyworkers are very familiar with. But you talk to a mental health professional or a theologian about "Energy" or "Chi" and they think you have fallen out of your rocker. So...here goes.

For Psychology People: "Energy" can be translated to "Embodied Emotion." We know that we don't just have cognitions about how we feel...we FEEL our emotions. And that feeling often has a level of force to it, i.e., energy. Anger for example...when you are angry, you may feel like decking someone. That is a force to be reckoned with. Or maybe you feel love for someone, that makes you tender and attentive to them. Emotion "moves" you, and, our physicist friends know, that to move something you need ENERGY. Hence, emotions are energy expressed through the body. Does this reduce emotions to energy? No, of course not--emotions are more than energy--but energy is required to feel them.

For Theologians: "Energy" can be translated to "power [of the spirit/Spirit]." Energy moves things...and the spirit/Spirit moves things. Do we know how? Nope. Jesus said, "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." John 3:8. Of course, also interesting is the word for "power" in the Bible is also "dunamis"--the same word we derive the English word for "dynamite"--and we know that is powerful stuff. So when we talk about the power/energy of the Spirit of God, we may be using the word "dunamis." The Spirit moves things. This is often why, in a worship service where people find themselves, clapping, raising their hands, or crying--they say, "The Spirit was moving in today's service." Why? Because they felt their emotions connecting with their faith. They felt MOVED. And that is the job and power of the Spirit. Does this reduce the Spirit or our own spirit to our emotions--of course not. The wind is not reduced to its effects...our emotions may be the effects of the moving of our or God's Spirit.

So finally, is energy (chi or Qi) simply a force? This is where I would diverge from some bodyworkers. Some do believe energy is only a force. I believe that God is more than an impersonal force. We would surely be in trouble if God were reducible to a "force." A "force" cannot love, care, redeem, protect, etc. But God can--and does through the Spirit. So, God is more than this, but our language limits us. But our language, doesn't limit God.

Transmisson...

Nope--not talking about my car...although that is something I had checked last week! :)

One of the fascinating things about Somatic work is the concept of transmission/resonance. I think different theorists call it by different names,  but it is the experience of the Bodyworker's emotional (or energetic) state being picked up by the client by means of contact with the therapist. In other words, my own grounding and centered-ness as a Bodyworker can be transmitted to a client through my touch. Of course, in everyday life we do this when we put our hand on the shoulder of a friend who is upset. Our groundedness (peace) can be transferred to them by this contact. Bodywork amplifies this and focuses this experience. Particularly for someone who is anxious or upset.

Conversely--and many of you may have already made this connection--my other emotions can also be transferred to a client....Anxiety for example. If I am anxious before a session--my client may pick this up. Obviously, not a therapeutic session! This is why self-care for bodyworkers is so important--your client will pick up your stuff. Work on your stuff--less stuff for you and client. Very Important!

What this has meant for me as a practitioner is that I have found my own grounded-ness emotionally (energetically) functions like a lightning rod. My clients come in--and their emotional static (energy in the form of anxiety, stress, depression, etc) gets grounded and released by connecting with me through the bodywork. Fascinating Stuff. Hard to explain--but very real.

Change--How does it happen?

Well...have had a few days that were less "scheduled" due to inclement weather (about 8 to 10 inches of snowfall) so I have had time to catch up on some reading I have been wanting to do. I am taking a reading course on Somatic Psychology...and ran across this quote from an article by Ian Grand:

"In working somatically, one of the things one is trying to do is to allow the tissue state of a person to reorganize itself, learn different responses, and grow and form itself in a different way....It is generally recognized that to build a state of muscle with which one can lift several hundred pounds, or the cardiovascular and muscular ability to run 20 miles, requires a training that actually changes the tissue state. Alterations in muscle fiber, metabolism, capacity for oxygenation, liquid flow and hormonalization are required to permit these kinds of performances. The same thing is true emotionally. It is quite easy for someone to want to be more tender or more assertive or able to tolerate anger without violence or collapse; but to actually enact these changes requires an organismic learning so that the tissue itself can tolerate the different streams of sensation and feeling and project them into the world."

 WOW.  This explains a bit more about "How does it (bodywork) work?" which I have explored a bit before  (Part One here). Change does not just magically happen. Awareness that change is needed is usually the first step--even if one does not know what it is exactly--one just knows something needs to be different. What is the AA definition of insanity? "Doing the same thing the same way and hoping for different results." yeah. Doesn't happen. So change requires us to recognize, hopefully with either some degree of humility and hope--that something different needs to occur.

One of the gifts of Bodywork as a therapy is to introduce more options somatically (through touch, movement, breathing, etc) which then translates emotionally into a person's experience! Is that cool or what? This is good news--for it means there are several ways to introduce change into our lives. A change in one part of the system will impact the others. You can work directly to solve a problem--or go through a back door--but it will work. So, the Dove Chocolate quote of, "Change your mind--Change your Body" could just as easily be written "Change your Body--Change your Mind." (Yes--I love Dove Chocolates :)

Therapists of all stripes introduce new ways of doing things. Problem is with most of us, is we either are afraid to do new things (due to a negative experience) or don't think we can do new things (we reason--we would already be doing them if we could). Ah--but not so...we only THINK or FEEL we cannot do them....and that is where counseling, bodywork, personal training, tutoring, etc. comes in. Someone who is a few steps ahead of us on their journey helps us take the next few steps.

Bodyworkers are therapists--they introduce new ways of doing things.

For example, when a person is emotionally depressed, they often feel they have no more options (things will always be the same and they will never get better.) This feeling of hopelessness causes a person to "shut down" to conserve energy in what feels to be a "closed system." Somatically, a person who is depressed is also often "shut down" or kind of "curled in" on themselves--to save energy and to shield and protect oneself from others who are perceived to be dangerous. Only problem is that this kind of "shut down" prevents a person from at least 2 things:
1.seeing the other options that may be available
2. being open to receive good/nurture from those who are safe

So, a Bodyworker will help them to:
1. discover and work through what the original fear was that caused the "shut down" 
2. become more open to life and receive now that danger has passed
3. experience new options that are available.

So...are you ready to try something new in order to experience change? As the chocolate says:
"Change your Body...Change your Mind."