May we be grateful for the presence of each member of our family. May we have the freedom to meet each other as we are. May we have the grace to sit with discomfort, anger and even fear - and to recognize its true source. I pray for the patience to hear other’s stories with curiosity and wonder. I pray for the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to remind us who we are in Christ, and to see our family through God’s eyes. 

American families are gathering around the Thanksgiving table, ready or not. This year, political discussions may, once again, lead to bruising arguments - with both sides quoting the same scripture! 

Our ideology is suddenly equated with our morality. Perhaps this is nothing new, but it has reached a fever pitch. Take into account the story of one family gutted by political ideology published last year in The Atlantic. Sisters, once close, drift apart over ideology, each hurt, misunderstood and humiliated. 

“And yet despite the divergent paths the sisters have taken, despite their ideological opposition, they are much more alike than they are different. By all accounts, both are giving, generous people, committed to helping others in need. Owens does quilting for cancer patients. Sayers runs fund-raisers and community events on the top floor of her house. And each told me that she truly does want to understand the other’s point of view, an unusual sentiment in a world where few are willing even to listen.”

Sound familiar? With the sisters in this story, it’s ideology, not action, that divides. 

The world urges us to pick a side. It’s easier that way. These sides are our identity, our voting position and our moral compass. Our favorite cable news stations, our yard signs and our t-shirt slogans convey whether we are with you or against you, friend or foe. We are playing the world’s game. I’ll admit I buy into it! However, God does not ask us to pick a side or choose a team. How can we learn to live in the messiness without tearing each other apart?

Our practice will be a catalyst for healing

I believe contemplative practices - like yoga and meditation - can bridge the divides. Christians who practice yoga can be a catalyst for that healing. This may sound ridiculous to those who believe mindfulness practices are nothing more than new age hype, or that Christians share a good deal of the blame for the current divides. I’ll admit I seem naive given the deeply divided state of our nation. Yet, transformation is at the heart of both yoga and Christianity. 

If we have faith in Jesus, we believe He overcame the world. And if we have the faith of Jesus, we can and must do the same.

When we practice yoga and/or meditation, we invite our own transformation and healing. It’s hard work. But the fruit of the contemplative mind is the often sudden recognition that we are, and have always been, intrinsically whole, despite what the world is telling us. No group, identity or party can make us so. For the Christian, this intrinsic wholeness is being centered, fully known, and unconditionally loved by Christ. 

The practice dismantles our attachment to our particular time, culture, and yes, even political ideology. We realize we are not who we thought we were.  We can sit in quiet freedom and acceptance of ourselves. 

Once we perceive ourselves as more whole than the world sees us, once we can accept that we got ourselves all wrong, it’s easy to recognize that we must get everyone else wrong too. We can see others with fresh eyes, as they are really are, rather than as a reflection of how we feel about their politics. And we overcome the world.

Our capacity to fall in love with the practice of yoga, with its ancient, eastern philosophies and mystifying spiritual systems, means we are already capable of loving and appreciating “otherness.” Yoga not only trains us to let go of our egos, our identity, our cultural boundaries -- our very encounter with it proves we already have this capacity. We can and have recognized that another culture, another way of life, can be wildly different yet intrinsically whole at the same time. We can and do hold a both/and view.

Can Christians Who Practice Yoga Change the World?

It seems that Gandhi didn’t actually say, “Be the change you want to see in the world,” the quote most likely to appear on the wall of a yoga studio. Here’s the closest translation:

If we can recognize ourselves, there is hope. Our own transformation just might change the world. “This is the divine mystery supreme.” This is the paradox of our faith. This is the trust in God we profess. 

Of course, we are not off the hook. Putting our faith in action by serving the marginalized, leveling hierarchy, recognizing the inherent value and dignity of every life — all forms of life — is the important work of religion and politics. This is the transformative work of faith. No “side” has cornered the market!

A Thanksgiving Prayer for Families

May we be grateful for the presence of each member of our family. May we have the freedom to meet each other as we are. May we have the grace to sit with discomfort, anger and even fear - and to recognize its true source. I pray for the patience to hear other’s stories with curiosity and wonder. I pray for the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to remind us who we are in Christ, and to see our family through God’s eyes.