Namaste
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In my quest for an authentic faith which resounds and rolls around and echos within my soul, I often return to the New Testament parable found in Matthew chapter 25, which reads:
Then shall [they] answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
There are many places to get spirituality. There are many places to learn about God. But for me, time and time again, truereligion isn’t in a place, it is within people. It is in the smile of the silver-haired Walgreens clerk who says, “Gosh, I’ll miss you,” when I tell him we’re moving while paying for cough elixir and a box of Sour Patch Watermelon. It is in the willing voice of my Vanessa, who lingers over a phone conversation involving the singing of hymns and the eating of Girl Scout Cookies. It is in the message from my mom, “just checking in to see how this move is affecting you? We can’t WAIT to have you in Cali.” It is in the heart of Maggy. The passion of Benji. The lyricism of Kelle. The feverish sniffle of my little Alyssa who begs to be held while she fights off the flu. In the vulnerability of my sweet husband as he checks in for first day on the job. Go, babe, go.
My Eldon friend tells me it’s important to learn to trust our own instincts and insights. But for so long, I’ve doubted that gut I was given. Tried to fit another worldview inside my own. Tried to snip and choose only the realizations that fit within the dogma of my birth. And so, when it comes to professing this simple belief –that God is within people, I feel tiny and unsure. Like maybe I’m missing something. It couldn’t possibly be that easy. It couldn’t possibly be that joyful. Shouldn’t religion be hard? Couldn’t I be making this up like that one time I was sure Eric had a middle-school crush on me, but it was actually his bestie Dimitri? See. I overread into things sometimes.
Still, my soul is cheered when I realize that I’m not the first to happen upon such truths. Jesus himself said as much up there in Matthew 25. And the sanskrit language nailed it long before my birth in nineteen-seventy-blah-blah with the greeting “namaste,” which celebrates a bowing of one to another. The recognition of equality and service and sameness. I like the modern day interpretation even more, which tweaks the term to mean “The spirit in me respects the spirit in you,” or “the divinity in me bows to the divinity in you.”
The Reverend Tom Honey, a vicar in the Church of England also expressed his own understanding of this powerful message in his 2005 TED talk, God and the Tsunami, which to date is my favorite ever TED talk. Ever. Did I say ev.er? Ever. Namaste.
All of these things–Eldon, Jesus, Sanskrit, Reverend Honey–and a million other little evidences come together and confirm the sense that strikes my gut. The truth which sings in my soul. The fleshy goodness that is the life, the experience, the essence of another being. For I believe God is there, within people. Within us all. And we find him as we seek to see each other, to help each other, to hold each other gently in the arms of compassion.
“If you have done it unto the least of these my bretheren, ye have done it unto me.”
Giant-sized version of the above quote here which has inspired me all day to just love the crap out of this world. How’s abouts we do it together? Click, copy, and share. Then tell me about a person you saw today. And loved. And namaste’ed all over.
XO.
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Heather on February 4, 2012 at 10:25 am
Hey, Brooke! I started reading your blog a few weeks ago after hearing your interview on Mormon Stories. After listening to that podcast, I knew I would love your blog; I have Google to thank for making it so easy to find you.
I’m going through a similar faith journey right now so I hear ya! Thanks for your wise words–sometimes is difficult to think outside the Mormon box.
Your recipes are wonderful and I really look forward to your cookbook!
Shauni on February 4, 2012 at 11:50 am
My thoughts are identical to Heather’s! I’m also going through a similar faith journey, and really appreciated your (and your husband’s) honesty and openness on the Mormon Stories podcast.
I’ve been shifting away from the idea of god as an anthropomorphic being too, and love the idea of “namaste,” or divinity within us all. I’ll have to watch that TED talk! My favorite TED talk ever, called “Nature. Beauty. Gratitude,” had a similar theme.
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/louie_schwartzberg_nature_beauty_gratitude.html
STH on February 4, 2012 at 12:30 pm
You go, Brooke! I’m so happy to see you finding your own truth and thinking your own thoughts without the constraints of the church!
As you know, I’m an atheist, and so reject the idea of the existence of a deity as unproven. But if you want to talk about the god-like aspects of all of us, I’m with you. I just received a card the other day from a friend (a sympathy card–my father died about two weeks ago) and it moved me so much how thoughtful–in both senses of the word–it was. This is a friend who is unemployed, job-hunting, and not receiving much support from her husband in that; but she took the time to sit and contemplate what it means to bury a parent and write a long note to me about her thoughts.
Religious people often think that atheists live in despair because they don’t have a father-figure-type deity to comfort them. But we don’t, because we see the goodness in other people and the beauty in the world, and we know that’s enough. Human beings are capable of such wonderful things and we see that every day–no need to appeal to a higher power, just to the ability of people to overcome their fears, hatred, and selfishness to become their best selves.
Anyway, just some thoughts. : ) All the best to you, and make sure to keep listening to that Brooke person, she’s one smart cookie!
anna on February 4, 2012 at 6:09 pm
best of luck on your search!
Magan Eckstrom on February 4, 2012 at 10:21 pm
Hi Brooke, wow your amazing. No wonder John married you! His dad was my seminary teacher, and I wanted to marry his brother Mike. Anywho, This was beautifully said. God is Good, God is loving, God is about relationships,God is compassion,God loves us all and he is in all of us. It took 10 years to finally leave the church and I feel so free now. There is no treehouse club that you have to have a secret password or handshake to the mysteries of the world it isn’t about faternity rituals to be let in. Its just God loving us and wanting us all to be happy, loving, and respect ourselves and each other. Wanting us all to make the best of our lives and our relationships with other. I wish we lived closer so we could have a better conversation about each others journey. Congratulations on the Blog, I love it, and congratulations on Johns new job. Your family will be in our prayers and thoughts as your new adventure begins! God Bless, Magan
Tiffany on February 5, 2012 at 10:08 am
It’s amazing where you see and feel God when you are listening to your own soul. I remember waking up one day and loving everything. Like, overwhelmingly loving doorknobs and rocks and things that aren’t actually alive, just because I felt no restriction. My kids have through the years asked me where God lives, and I can finally say that I very much believe that God takes on whatever form we need him to, but he LIVES in our heart.
Michael on February 5, 2012 at 1:25 pm
Namaste,
I’m another reader who discovered your site through MS. Definitely can echo some of the emotions and experiences you’ve been through this past year. Wishing you and your family well on this move and huge break from a community and home. It brings a smile to my face feeling God in each of us.
Betsy on February 5, 2012 at 9:28 pm
Tell you about someone I saw and loved today. This will sound funny, but…today I loved me. I *saw* myself. Not the fat body that I hate, not the scared little girl who has been hurt and abandoned until she just gave up on letting people in. Not the woman who couldn’t figure out why anyone would love her, or why they would think her worthy of being loved. I saw ME – smart, funny, kind….fairly awesome, actually, *me*. And through the love and hard work and patience of a lot of amazing friends, I finally GET IT! So in my case – it was all about who saw me when I was invisible, and loved me enough to drag me out into the light, and just namaste’d all OVER me.
P.S. Brooke – you are SO on the right path. You are doing the right thing. You are an incredible woman :-)
Skye on February 7, 2012 at 1:49 pm
I’ve been watching your interviews with my best friend (we haven’t quite finished yet). It has given me a new appreciation for you- going through such hard, serious stuff, yet still putting energy into your cheeky little recipes for us. I’m glad you and your husband are working through this experience together and redefining what you as a family really believe in. You two seem perfect for each other and I just love your ideas about LOVE and finding God in people.
Brooke replied: — February 9th, 2012 @ 1:25 am
Oh, Skye. Thank you. And bless you. And smooches.
Adrienne on February 21, 2012 at 4:44 pm
Hi Brooke!
I am fairly new to your blog, but let me tell you how much I enjoy your recipes and stories. This particular post struck me to the core. I have been a Christian for almost my entire life and though I’m young, I have been blessed to experience an unwavering faith that has brought me through the many trials that life can bring. I too believe that people serve as evidence that God exists and it only accumulates the more we embrace each other. I believe that each person carries a part of God within himself. That’s why we’re called “the body of Christ” (1 Cor. 12:12- 27)… because although we can be pretty useful by separately, we can be much more effective together. Thank you for sharing your heart! God bless!
jennifer daas on February 28, 2012 at 10:36 am
WOW…….talk about “Give me ambiguity or give me something else!” I’m not trying to say stop pursuing God, but you have to remember to use logic and not just emotional fuzzies….. ‘good feelings’ about what you believe will not hold up when you are faced with the one true truth. To say, “it’s okay for you to believe whatever you want, but me, I don’t believe in gravity.” is very similar to being ambiguous about your own soul…..both are deadly. If you jump out of an airplane with your ‘faith’ that gravity doesn’t exist, you will die….whether you believed it with all of your heart or not, fair enough? What I’m getting at is that God is God and he is not what each of us wants him to be or believes him to be……..just as you are – WHO you are, and no matter what someone thinks you are like will change you. “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; and it takes the honor of kings to search it out.” – keep seeking the real God, not for who you want him to be, not for some mystical high, but to know Him in truth…for who he really is………start with the bible, just hear what he says about Himself…….then, check out history….there is TONS of corroborative evidence for the biblical accounts…by unbelievers even. Science is another huge angle……see the documentary God of Wonders – it’s amazing to see what kind of God this is.
Best wishes on your journey,
jend
Brooke replied: — February 29th, 2012 @ 1:17 am
Jennifer,
Thanks for your comments. God is big. Big enough for all of us. Might I suggest that the greatest “corroborative evidence” of truth from both biblical sources, and many other ancient belief’s, books, and practices, is that all of us are deserving of love. Regardless our status as believers and unbelievers. I once viewed the world through eyes like yours–thinking God would reap punishment on masses of people who didn’t read just the right phrases or say just the right prayers. It was a soul-altering discovery when I realized I no longer had to box God into a book, but could allow Him to move in a fullness throughout my life simply by listening, understanding, and offering love to others. The need to call others to repentance or conversion has ceased. I now seek to spend my time in communion with the spirit of humanity, the unknown divine, and the mysterious joy that is vulnerability. Yes you’re right. It’s amazing to see what kind of God this is.
Best wishes on your journey, as well.
Me
Eldon Kartchner on March 15, 2012 at 4:10 pm
Remember that one time when someone famous named Brooke did a name drop of plain ole’ me? Oh wait; I’m not plain, I’m a creature with God inside. How is it we forget that so stinkin’ easily?! Whew… thanks for the reminder today, Brooke Almighty.
Brooke replied: — March 15th, 2012 @ 10:29 pm
Name droppin’ your face forever, you know. Amen.