Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Forbidden Yoga



The other day I was listening to a Catholic talk radio program, as I often do. Every so often a subject comes up where the host has an opinion that he is so passionate about, he fails to see all sides of said subject. This time the subject was yoga.

His stance was that yoga outright contradicts Catholic teaching, and that Catholics should stay away from it and not even dabble in it. He had an ex-cultist on as a guest warning about the evils of yoga. They went on to explain that yoga teaches that the body is basically evil, when Catholic teaching is that the body is basically good, etc. They explained that each pose in yoga is a form of praying to the various gods that they worship, which of course is in direct contradiction to Catholic teaching. They even went so far as to say that yoga for fitness was also not to be touched.

Now, my point of contention is with the yoga for fitness. I do yoga. Please note the vocabulary here. I DO yoga. I do not PRACTICE yoga. I do believe there is a difference here. Yes, yoga is a form of religion. And yes, I do believe that Catholics should not PRACTICE yoga. Now when I go to the gym for a yoga class, at no point has the instructor ever talked about the religious aspect of yoga. At no point is she telling us to pray to the sun god or whatever. At no point does she even urge us to explore the spiritual side. The instructor simply leads us through a series of poses aimed to strengthen our muscles and increase our flexibility. That is DOING yoga.

Now I do agree that Catholics should not PRACTICE yoga. At the gym, however, I have never seen anybody practicing yoga; I've only seen people doing yoga. And if every pose is a form of idol worship, does that mean that every kindergartner on the planet is sinning since they are often in lotus position, otherwise known as sitting indian style?

I would like people's opinions on this topic. Am I crazy here? Do you think there is a difference between practicing yoga and doing yoga, or am I just fooling myself? Please feel free to share your thoughts. One condition. I don't want this to turn into an anti-Catholic rant. This was the opinion of ONE PERSON on the radio. As far as I know, the Catholic Church doesn't have a ban on DOING yoga, but does not condone the PRACTICE of it. Please correct me if I'm wrong on this.

Thoughts?

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Monday, May 28, 2007

Memorial Day


This morning I went to a Memorial Day service with my dad. For those of you who don't know him, my dad served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War; and I am immensly proud of him. Also, my grandfather served in WWII, and I'm proud of him as well. I don't think I ever told my grandpa that when he was alive, but I think he knows. During the service, I got to thinking of many things, and I was profoundly moved. I won't get into much of it here, as most of you didn't come here to read a novel. What I will say is that whether you support the current war or not, we should support the troops that are over there. I can't imagine that what they do is easy even if they had everybody's support, but knowing that they don't, I think it's amazing that they do what they do every day.
I was so proud to be sitting next to my father; both when they recognized the veterans, and also when they recognized the fallen. Every single one sacrificed their lives for us. Our Mothers, Fathers, Brothers, Sisters, Sons and Daughters. Those who are here today, were READY to sacrifice their lives for us; without hesitation. I'm blown away by that.
If you see a veteran today, say thank you. They simply don't hear it enough. Tell them how grateful you are that they put your life before their own; that they loved this country enough to fight for it and its freedoms.
Thanks Dad! I love you!

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Sunday, May 20, 2007

Tick Trouble

I spent most of today with my wonderful puppies, Orion and Qila. As I was scratching Qila behind the ears today, I felt a lump. After a quick investigation, I discovered that Qila had volunteered to give a piggy back ride to a tick. Now, The Tick animated series is one of my favorites to this day, but this particular tick I was not a fan of.

Never having owned dogs before these two, and never having dealt with a tick before, I was a little unsure of what to do. Also, long and thick Siberian Husky hair made dealing with the little critter extremely difficult. After finding a pair of tweezers, the little bugger is gone, and Qila is most appreciative. I will be quickly shopping for a tick preventative for my pups.



The puppies also found time this weekend to be a little mischievous. Orion and Qila are not allowed on the couch, but after fighting with them, I finally started laughing, and this picture is the result. As you can see, they are quite happy with themselves for being rebellious. Even so, I love them dearly and found it hard to be mad at them.

Now I just need to keep them tick free, and we'll all be much happier!

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Monday, May 14, 2007

God will Provide

The Lord really does work in mysterious ways, and He is ALWAYS watching over us. These are hard times, and I, like everyone else, have been financially lacking from time to time. This past week, I was a bit short on funds that I needed to pay a certain bill, and for days I racked my brain trying to figure out where to get the money needed to pay it. When I finally stopped trying to control it, and offered it up to God, wonderful things happened.
I got this strange urge to clean out my coat closet. I was confused about why I felt I needed to clean it, but that urge was there, so I started cleaning. As I riffled through papers and other junk, I came across a deep blue envelope with a printed red bow that read, "A Gift for You." I opened it, and in it were savings bonds from my First Communion that I had never cashed. After looking up how much interest they had earned, it ended up being the exact amount I needed to cover the bill. The inscription on the envelope read, "May God Bless you today on your First Holy Communion Day, and may He be with you always!"
It looks like He has been with me always, and had the foresight to hide that gift away until I needed it most.
Little by little, God reveals His plans; and they never cease to amaze me.

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Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Words of Wisdom

I came across a reflection from the good people over at Sacred Space, that really hit me today. It is as follows:

In one of the gospel parables, the rich man is mulling over his treasures, and plans to build even bigger barns to store all his crops. He relishes his security: My soul, you have plenty of good things laid by for many years to come. Jesus reflects: A man’s life is not made secure by what he owns. As we grow quiet in prayer, our hearts can be invaded in the same way by false securities. In the measure that my heart is in past treasures, I am fossilised and dead, for life is only in the present. So to each of these past treasures I am grateful yet I say goodbye, explaining that, grateful though I am that it came into my life, it must move out, or my heart will never learn to love the present.

As I thought about this, I realized how true it is. It's only recently that I've been able to let go of the past, both good and bad, and I can see how much I've changed since doing so. I think that by looking at my past accomplishments too much, it tends to build up that in my mind THAT was the apex of what I can do. That's not true. We learn and grow constantly, but sometimes, we don't let ourselves grow because we are too focused on what we've already done.
Since I consciously put a lot of what I had accomplished behind me, I've grown beyond my wildest expectations, and I didn't even realize it was happening until just now. God really does have magnificent plans for each one of us. It's just that He doesn't show us the whole picture, and we get the pieces of the puzzle when we trust in Him.

I'm so happy for the present. It's the best present I've ever had.

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Thursday, May 3, 2007

Home Away From Home

It seems so wrong to say, "I'm going to work" when I feel like I'm going to play. :)
Seriously, I've been there four days, and I LOVE it! It feels like I found a place where I truly belong; where I can use my gifts, give back to the community, and approach each task with absolute excitement. I work with a group of extremely talented people, and I couldn't be happier!

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