Each time I have been the “walk alongside” friend I find myself making the familiar offer of “let me know if there is anything I can do.” And each time, every single time, I mean it sincerely. The trouble is that in that moment very few people actually have a “do” for which they could ask. The “do” comes later, in the strangest times, in the middle of the night, in the middle of the work or school day, in the middle of the family dinner. They are things it is hard to ask of acquaintances or social media friends-trips to the doctor, watch the kids, clean the house, bring some groceries. I have determined that when I ask if there is anything I can “do” nine times out of ten it surfaces that all I can really do, as a homeschooling parent of 4 whose husband travels a great deal, is to pray.
And so I do.

I realize that not everyone subscribes to my faith narrative so rarely do I offer to pray for someone if they do not ask or if I do not know their faith choice. I will pray for you anyway but I won’t mention it. I pray because it is so often, all I can do. I will pray healing, I will pray peace, patience, companionship and comfort. But I will pray most sincerely for the constant and eternal “yes.”

We lose track of the “yes” in everyday life. We get stuck in the eventual “no” because we’re inclined toward excess. We drink too much coffee, we eat too much sugar, we have too much couch time and so we say “No.”  As parents we have to protect our children so we limit their television, we limit their game time, we limit their sweets consumption. I say “No” far more than I say “yes” at home. “No” isn’t’ a bad thing in this context. We have to limit ourselves where unhealthy things are concerned. We have to have limits. But lately I’ve been thinking that all that “no” only has impact if we live with an underlying stream of “yes.” “Yes” is the affirmation in the limitation, “yes” is the water underground, “yes” is where we’re headed no matter where we’ve been. “Yes” is constant and eternal. If I lose track of the “yes” then every struggle has no refrain. And this brings me to the Psalms. I find the constant and eternal “yes” in the Psalms, especially this one:

Psalm 136

1Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good.
His love endures forever.
2Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures forever.
3Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever.

4to him who alone does great wonders,
His love endures forever.

5who by his understanding made the heavens,
His love endures forever.

6who spread out the earth upon the waters,
His love endures forever.

7who made the great lights—
His love endures forever.

8the sun to govern the day,
His love endures forever.

9the moon and stars to govern the night;
His love endures forever.

10to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt
His love endures forever.

11and brought Israel out from among them
His love endures forever.

12with a mighty hand and outstretched arm;
His love endures forever.

13to him who divided the Red Seaa asunder
His love endures forever.

14and brought Israel through the midst of it,
His love endures forever.

15but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea;
His love endures forever.

16to him who led his people through the desert,
His love endures forever.

17who struck down great kings,
His love endures forever.

18and killed mighty kings—
His love endures forever.

19Sihon king of the Amorites
His love endures forever.

20and Og king of Bashan—
His love endures forever.

21and gave their land as an inheritance,
His love endures forever.

22an inheritance to his servant Israel;
His love endures forever.

23to the One who remembered us in our low estate
His love endures forever.

24and freed us from our enemies,
His love endures forever.

25and who gives food to every creature.
His love endures forever.

26Give thanks to the God of heaven.
His love endures forever.

In the Psalms I find doubt and fear coupled with peace and patience, struggle and worry paired with trust and grace. The writer believes in this underlying current of “yes,” in the great “I AM.” The writer of this piece knows that no matter how difficult things are, will be, have been, that yes, “His love endures forever.”  The constant and eternal “yes” for me, as a Believer, is this….and more. For all of us there is a moment by moment representation of this “yes” in our lives if we are able to move past struggle long enough to welcome it. When I pray for someone in a hard situation I pray healing, yes…and patience, yes…and touch and soft embraces and sweet words, yes yes yes…I pray for a delicious meal, yes and deep breathing, amazing clouds caught in just the right moment, yes…and I pray daydreams about better days and night dreams about flying, yes and yes. I pray for laughing and cheesy movies and long hours of eyes open and deep gratitude, yes… yes… yes…always, the constant and eternal yes.

I pray this.

But I will offer you a little something to help you get ready. I call it a DoxaMoment. You can think of it as 10 minutes of preparation. Rather than preparing for the coming of Christmas, however, we’ll be preparing for the coming of Christ.

Let’s first take a look at Isaiah 40:3, where the prophet heralds His upcoming arrival with this exhortation: “Prepare ye the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”

In the time of monarchs and unpaved roads, servants were sent out days – perhaps even weeks – ahead of a king’s planned visit throughout his realm. These servants were sent to prepare “the way of the king.” Their appointed task was to smooth out the rough spots and fill in the holes, leveling the terrain to create smooth, unhindered passage for the royal processional.  Such a big deal was made of the preparations because it meant a great deal to the people for their king to venture out among them. The people thrilled at having an up-close-and-personal leader. And such preparation signified their honorable welcome of the king. Their king.

With that information as background, let’s make our own preparations. We’ll begin prayerfully with Elijah:

Kneel on your mat or a carpeted floor with hands on the floor. Pull your torso back to rest on the heels of your feet. Lower your head to the floor and extend your arms out in front.

James tells us that, “Elijah was a man just like us” (5:17). And – like him – we can experience the power of a prayer-filled life. Let’s ask the Lord to slow our pace, calm our minds and ready our hearts to receive Him this Christmas.

Moving from Elijah to Prone, lift your torso slightly to give yourself the mobility to move your upper body forward while sliding your hands along the floor until you can lie flat on the floor, forehead to the ground, hands on either side of you next to your ears. Forearms rest on the floor; hands are pressing into the ground.

More significant than the physicality of the position is the heart, or spirit, of Prone. Prone is a position of reverence. (Refer to Joshua 5:13-15). It is in lying prostrate on the floor that we recognize the distinction between our lowly station and the exalted status of the Lord. Here, no words are needed; our posture speaks for us.

Next, raise your forearms off the floor and slide your hands back to align them with your chest in order to leverage your upper body off the floor. Move back into Elijah, briefly.

From Elijah, come up onto hands and knees with shoulders directly over your hands and hips over the knees.  Here we get further instruction through Isaiah as to what it means to prepare the way of the Lord and make straight a highway for our God. Isaiah 40:4 says this: “Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill made low, the crooked straight, and the rough places plain.” And it is the Scripture that informs our position, Hill and Valley.

In this hands-and-knees position, inhale and arch your back up, “tucking in” your backside and lowering your head, to create the “hill.” Slowly and deliberately exhale. Relaxing from “Hill,” level your back for one complete breath and think or utter (on your exhale) these words, “Prepare the way of the Lord.” Now inhale and relax your spine into a curve to create the “valley” while lifting your head and looking upward. Slowly and deliberately exhale. Relaxing from “Valley,” level your back for one complete breath and think or utter (on your exhale) these words, “Make straight a highway for our God.”

Scripture is, in no way, suggesting that we have to have it all together to receive Christ. But we do need tender hearts and open minds. The Lord is hoping to find those who are thrilled at having an up-close-and-personal leader. That’s all the preparation that is needed.

Return to Elijah. You might want to repeat the movement, following this sequence: Elijah-Prone-Elijah-Hill and Valley-Elijah-Prone.

Now… if someone (not I, of course!) asks you if you’re ready, you can say most assuredly, “That I am!!!”

Dear Friends:

The week before Christmas may feel like absolutely the wrong time to add one more activity to your calendar, which is why it is absolutely the right time to make an hour of DoxaSoma a part of your holiday “musts”!  Come to The Welcome Table this Saturday, December 17^th at 2:00 PM, for a time of breathing, stretching, prayer and silence. This Saturday’s theme is “Letting Our Bodies Pray”. In this class, we will explore how we might pray The Lord’s Prayer with our bodies and how even our ordinary movements throughout the day may also become ways of praying.

What to Wear: loose, comfortable clothing that allows you to stretch

What to Bring: an exercise mat if you have one (a few extras are available) & a sweater or sweatshirt for our times of stillness

Where to park: the Lombard Mennonite Church parking lot next door to 536 East Madison Street

Suggested Donation: $10 per person. All proceeds this month will benefit the Meserete Kristos College in Ethiopia.

Childcare: available on request. Please contact Dennette no later than this Thursday, December 15 by 5 PM if you have need.

Please feel free to forward this announcement to others you know who might have interest. Bring along your friends, neighbors, teen children, and significant others. Come experience prayers of the body that can reduce stress and keep us focused on Christ’s coming amidst a busy holiday season!

Blessings,

Dennette

welcometableforwomen@gmail.com

630-656-3733

I’ll be attempting to post thoughts on the season of Advent a few times a week on my Mrs Metaphor blog if you’d like to join me for those. Today, however I will simply post the poem I wrote last year at this time and hope it meets you somewhere interesting.

Advent: sound and water

the season shift

not always conveyed

by weather or intention

I yield then

to other channels-

shopping or television,

blinking lights

adding population

to otherwise bare porches

pulsing noise

into my arms

coursing into my veins

a river I cannot ride

only swim

only drown

until, through the din

of sound and water

it comes-

a small child,

voice cutting through

the low hanging trees

of branches stinging

the singing rocks

the timbre ringing

takes my face

between two soft hands

each time I look away

with tenderness and

firm conviction

intoning-

look here

see this now

©2010adc

How many of your list items feed your soul?
How many of your list items speak to the reason you celebrate this season?
How many of your list items offer breathing space? preparation of the heart?

Advent is a season of waiting in hope.

Put down your holiday list and spend some time with us on Thursday nights in December from 7-8:30pm to get your focus right-
align your body, mind and spirit with the peace and hope of the season…

Come join us each Thursday night in December at:

Stix & Roses Boutique

7-8:30pm
Dec 1st
Dec 8th
Dec 15th
Dec 22nd

RSVP suggested as space is limited. You may contact us at angelacarlson@doxasoma.com to reserve your space.

Please dress for movement similar to yoga or pilates. Please bring a yoga/sticky mat.

Suggested donation: $10/class

-Romans 8:28 The Message

Trust is a choice we make every day, every moment. Trust in God is a choice we make continually, without ceasing. Prayer is an articulation of that choice.

Integrity is the acting out of that trust. Our hands do the work of trust, our words to one another demonstrate the strength of our trust, our bodies move in tandem with that articulation. When we are out of integrity it shows in us, bodily. We feel it, we witness it.

Trusting in God means that we fully embrace the not knowing, we fully embrace the waiting and the uncertainty…being sure that God is in all things, that He is not absent no matter how quiet He may seem.

Trusting in God means that regardless of how our lives unfold, we commit to throw off tunnel vision and look deeper, further, wider, looking for the “good” though we may never truly understand it.

This is not to say that we’re not to pay attention on this road. We live  always in the now and the not yet.

In DoxaSoma every hand position, every breath, every part of the body has meaning and importance, nothing is throw away. It’s the paying attention to the details which helps us to be ABLE to move fluidly. It’s a kind of practice for the act of worship and the act of worship is not for us, after all, but for the One who made us.

During classes we prepare or warm up in Proseuche (prayer) and Chara (stretching) and then we practice in Ischuros (strength building)so that we can participate in the bigger picture of Doxa. All these parts working together…for the good of the Body and the Glory of God.

Dear one,

You have a list of  ”musts.” Every day there is a list- either on paper or in your head of things you must do. We all have that list. It’s not the “get to do” list, it’s the “to do” list. These are things that help keep the well oiled machine of your life well oiled. These are the things that have repercussions if they are left or overlooked. If I asked you to detail your “to do” list I’ll bet you could rattle off a long line of things you must do…today, tomorrow, this week, this month.

How many of those “to do” items feed YOU? Is “getting enough sleep” on this list? “Is drinking enough water?” on this list? What about talking sweetly to yourself? What about offering grace to your own body?

Add these to your list of “musts.” You must take care of yourself. If you do not put these “to do” items on the list then they fall away. The well oiled machine of your life is run on limited natural resources and pretty soon, the pollution from that machine will kill the garden that is YOU.

Fuel your life, friend, with oxygen and water and joy. The best route to this energy source is the care of your body, your heart, your soul, your spirit. This isn’t new information, I know. This is just a loving and firm reminder. Right now, in your head, move yourself UP on the list. It makes a difference.

don’t forget

I have a friend who is having her first baby. I was thinking about the idea of childbirth, reflecting on the 4 labors which led to my 4 children being born…the labors of friends I had the honor of attending…the stories I’ve heard of women bringing their children into the bright and heavy world…and I feel a number of things: awe, love, peace, sometimes outrage, sometimes sadness, sometimes fear…but always I am impressed with the creation, the process of birth. And this points me directly to the Creator and I’m moved to praise.

Walt Wangerin once said in a talk I’d had the pleasure to hear that, “All creations exist to praise their creator.”  And this felt true and right to me. Being a part of the birth process I know this is true, I feel this.

And this is why when we feel broken- physically or emotionally or spiritually we may blame ourselves…and we may really question our Creator. “Why am I broken? Why am I made this way?”

This is an old question, an ancient struggle…and noble too.

Being able to identify our brokenness, to name it and ask that question of the Creator is vital. It won’t “fix” us, we may yet die of cancer….we may never stop the addiction….we may never reach the health goal we want. This life, is life AND death…it is health AND sickness. I don’t like that part very much but perhaps that’s the gain. Leaning into healthy, leaning into questioning, leaning into the struggle…this is the point, this is the process. Remember, our lives are not reduced to a laundry list of what we did from birth to death but rather what kind of people we were. When we choose to daily embrace the body we have every single day we affirm that truth. We become, day by day, the people we most to be and we support in every small measure of healthy choice, the body we want most to have.

So today and every day- look at the brokenness, mend what you can mend and affirm whatever is good and true and beautiful. This is praise for the Creator.

Check out the details below…registration is open for this workshop if you’d like to attend.  Please make liberal use of the “share” button on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Email, what have you.

Hope to see you there!

Grand Rapids Instructor Training 2011

October 8th & 9th

Training Location:

YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids – David D. Hunting

475 Lake Michigan Drive NW, Grand Rapids MI 49504

616.855.9544 direct I 616.855.9623 fax I  grymca.org

Join us in Grand Rapids, MI for a two day instructor Training Workshop.  Our training schedule is structured so that the sessions will be available to anyone who may want to deepen their practice (or BEGIN a practice!) as well as those who plan to teach DoxaSoma.

For this reason we will have a number of options for participation and cost levels for this workshop:

Certification Level $220 This level is geared toward the participant who wishes to become certified as an Instructor.  All sessions are required and follow up mentoring is included.  This training includes  the DoxaSoma instructor Manual.

Re-certification Level $110 This level is geared toward the participant who has already taken the Level 1 certification training but has not finished their training.  They may retake the training at the reduced cost.  This training  does not include DoxaSoma instructor Manual.  Replacement manuals are available at an additional cost of $20. (color manual $30.)

Current Instructor Level $35 per day This level is only open to Current Certified Instructors of DoxaSoma.  This workshop satisfies the yearly CEC requirement for DoxaSoma Instructors.

Day Pass $75 per day This pass is best suited for someone who’d like to pick and choose sessions which hold the greatest interest for them or who choose to only come one of the two days of the workshop. These sessions will not count toward certification.   Manuals are available for purchase at an additional cost of $20.

Everybody. It’s awesome this time of year. The heat breaks and the trees sway with a sweet autumn breeze. Everything stays green in Nashville, pretty much all year round, which is one of the many reason I’ve loved living here!

As I make plans to move with my family back up north to the great land of Chicago I am appreciating as often as I’m able the wonderful gift of this city, this weather, these people. I’m feeling truly thankful these days!

One thing we’re working on for this fall while I’m still local is to have an Instructor Training/Workshop in the area. The date we’re considering is the weekend of September 17th. It’s our usual 2 day Instructor Training with an open format so that we can welcome people who do not wish to be certified but would like to just attend an individual session or perhaps one day of the 2 day event.

We want to hear from you on this! If you have an inclination to attend in any capacity at all I hope you’ll drop us a line via email (angelacarlson@doxasoma.com) or via comments here or our facebook page!

Looking forward to your thoughts.

Angela