What do they mean by “God?”
Do they mean anyone’s “God” or just the signwriting collective’s “God?”
Do they extend the wishes of their notion of “God” only to those who believe in the same “God” or is this just meant to convey undifferentiated wishes of auspiciousness and love to all?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Dear Friends,
I hope this email finds you as well as possible under your personal circumstances. Here, up front, are the details for the Thanksgiving Day fundraiser. A longer story follows, if you want to scroll down and read it. I hope many of you who will be in town can make it, and I wish all the healthiest, most joyous, delicious, and abundant holiday you can have:
Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 28, 2013. 11th Annual Thanksgiving Day Fundraiser for Oxfam.
Location: William Penn House, 515 East Capitol Street, SE, Washington, DC 20003.
Time: 10:00 a.m.-11:15 a.m.
Yoga Details:
Benefit for Oxfam: Suggested donation $20. As in most of the previous years I have offered this class, I will collect checks made out directly to Oxfam, America (preferred over cash); even better, you could make an on-line donation before the class. I will then forward 100 percent of the proceeds to Oxfam, America. I also will match any individual donations over $20 up to $200. As always, the amount is suggested; what is within your means is a sufficient amount.
No Advance Registration. Just show up at the door. Though I enjoy the spontaneity of teaching whoever appears, the more the advance knowledge of who and how many plan to attend, the better I can design the class to suit more of your needs and desires, so I welcome your letting me know by replying to this email, sending me a private message, or by liking and then commenting on the Rose Garden Yoga page on Facebook.
This is the 11th year for this yoga practice. The first time I offered this practice, I was mostly through the year-long teacher training then at Willow Street Yoga and teaching at a studio on the Hill that has long since moved and reconfigured itself. My initial intention was to remind myself (and anyone else who wanted to share and listen) that one of the most effective ways to kindle appreciate for the abundance in one’s own life is to commit an act of generosity (even if one that is relatively modest and also provides benefits to the giver).
These are, for so many I know and for countless more I only read about in the news, challenging and unrestful or even unimaginably painful times. I am thankful that my resources are sufficiently abundant that I can draw on the practices and work and community and creative pursuits of various sorts (including here cooking and gardening, though perhaps those would go under practices, too) to find my soul, to reconnect with my inner strength, and remember how much good I have in my life.
Being able to share the yoga with friends old and new with a shared intention to be generous to ourselves and others and make our thanks giving that much more nurturing and powerful a holy day certainly is on my gratitude list for this holiday season. Come join us at William Penn House on Thanksgiving morning or for the regular Tuesday night practice (100% of student donations go to benefit the work camp program run by William Penn House). If the current limits of time, space, or circumstance make not possible sharing the yoga face to face, do please still be in touch.
Peace and light,
Elizabeth
The photos of the aftermath of the earthquake are horrific. I cannot really imagine what it must be like. I found myself today thinking about how it is that I trust that the images are real even though those who offer us “entertainment” give us similar pictures through the same media. How do we stay keenly open to truth and sympathy when our receipt of truth and fiction comes through the same channels? My heart goes out to all those suffering.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
As I read the blogs and commentaries about the transition, I’ve been thinking a lot about John Friend’s exhortation that we should always start by looking for the good. This is a very unsettling time — economic and environmental crisis, two wars, etc, etc. I may disagree with some of the picks for cabinet, but not only am I not in charge, I neither have the desire nor the skills to be in charge. I often have an opinion about a way to enhance action, and then I try to take action to have my voice heard. I am saddened, though, by the onslaught of negativity. Hope for change does not mean instant transformation before even taking office. Why not look for the good, and then raise our voices for what else we think could make things even better. This works, too, for our own personal growth. I’ve personally experienced that when I stopped habitually criticizing myself, came to a level of acceptance and nurture and then worked for progress, that not only did I feel better, but I did change more because I wasn’t wasting energy on both the criticizing and the feeling bad.
“She” is a whole lot better than “he” in this context, but why use a pronoun at all?
