Writer, Photographer,

Lately I’ve been thinking a great deal about a word; a way of thinking differently about the people around me. Namasté. Translated literally, this greeting means “I bow to you.” In yoga, it’s used with the meaning “The light in me honors the light in you.” To me, it’s a great reminder that God has created and deeply loves each of the faces–both new and familiar–I encounter every day.

I’m sad to admit how much easier it is for me to extend judgment and mistrust onto people I don’t know, rather than to choose to love them. In very tangible ways, I know God would have me be a presence of light and love so I can embody who He is. To me this means smiling at strangers instead of fearing them. It means choosing gentleness over annoyance when my neighbors are loud or I get cut off in traffic. It’s praying for people who hurt me and choosing to be patient. It’s looking people in the eye, treating them with dignity, and realizing that God loves them just as much as he loves me.

Everybody hurts, doubts, cries, experiences loneliness. I believe that God gave us our earthly relationships in part to model His healing love to each other. It’s not usually the response that comes most naturally, but it’s always within our control to choose love. And maybe that’s the closest we’ll ever get to Heaven on Earth.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 2nd, 2009 at 2:19 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.