Connection.

I saw the oddest thing today.  Well the thing itself was not odd, but setting in which it occurred seemed odd.  I was sitting at my kitchen table, which faces the apartment courtyard, and a small in stature oriental woman was saying what I assumed are her morning prayers.  She was faced toward the morning sun with her arms outstretched and I could see her lips moving as if to ask her God for grace, or love, or peace, or perhaps just to say good morning.  Then she crossed her arms on her chest for a moment and then placed her palms together and bowed her head (In my mind I heard the word Namaste’ but I am sure it was something different.  I am guessing that you don’t say Namaste’ to God.  But Maybe!). And then she was gone.

Instead of judgment, I instantly thought how beautiful this was.  I am sure that it was all about the connection and not about being ostentatious.  I did not get the sense that she was performing for anyone who might be watching.  It was pure, clean, and sincere.  Definitely not rote.  And it made me wonder…what if everyone…if even for a moment…stopped to have a quick conversation with God…in whatever form each individual preferred.  What kind of change would that effect in the world?  Perhaps none, but my sense is that it is a connection, like many, that we have broken from over the years:  The breakdown of Government;  the breakdown of community; the breakdown of family, the breakdown of introspection.

It’s true that we live in an evolving world.  Things are changing at a prodigious pace.  We get more information thrown at us in 30 minutes that we used to get in a week of daily living and yet we continue to survive.  But at what cost?  If we have freed ourselves from everything that has tethered us in the past then will we float aimlessly through space?  And while I personally believe it is necessary to cut ties with things that do not serve us, what doesn’t serve me may serve you well.

I am just going to say it and live with it.  We all need connection.  Every one of us.  We just don’t all need the same connection.  But if you have lost all of yours, or if you have purposely cut all of yours, I would encourage you to find something with which you can reconnect.

Trust me on this one…it cannot hurt.