Namaste

Your thoughts might have gone straight to yoga when you read the title.  I did yoga once - on my 17th birthday in India (I fell asleep).  So if you haven’t guessed this already, this isn’t about yoga.

In January, I go a tattoo (oh my word the conservative girl gone wild!).  I keep my “tattoo story” short and dumbed down.  But as you could probably guess, it has a much deeper meaning than I usually portray.

I think the outline of India goes without saying.  I love that country wholeheartedly - look at my blog posts or my sorority paddle or hear my prayers (if you could).  But in white is something deeper.

The word namaste.  It’s in white - a subliminal message of sorts.  Something to be passed along with a handshake, high five, pat on the back, hug or holding a hand.

Namaste, as it was presented to me, means:  I see the light in you that I see in myself.  Or rather:  I see the Light in you that I see in myself.

"Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the Light of life.'"

--John 8:12

We are all created by God.  He lives in all of us, but we must choose to be in relationship with Him.  Regardless everyone has the Light in them - whether they recognize it or not.  I find myself focusing on the jerk on 30, the frustrating subcontractor, the annoying co-worker, instead of seeing the Good in them - instead of seeing God in them.

But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

--1 John 1:7

The Hindus define namaste as “The divine in me recognizes the divine in you.”  I have a Hindi word permanently on my body, not because I believe in their religion, but because I agree that the Divine in me recognizes the Divine in you.  The Light is in all of us.  The Light unites us.  The Light cleanses us.  The Light leads us.  The Light is the true namaste.