PALMS UP.

I took yoga in college as a physical fitness course. I’ve always had a very tight body and the idea of being more flexible was dreamy. I wasn’t scared of yoga. At the time, I was an American (Charismatic?) Christian, and a lot of people told me I should be. There was this idea that if I opened myself, anything could get in. I was told that certain poses would be me accidentally praising different gods. In recent years, it’s even gone as far as me getting messages that the reason I was sick was because I had done yoga. Dude. It’s a cold, not a demon I got from stretching my hamstrings.

I do vividly remember the first time my teacher had us try to pause and breathe. She dimmed the lights and instructed us to close our eyes and place our hands on our lap with our palms facing up. I sat there and closed my eyes but something about the palms being up seemed too dangerous. Like how I felt about playing with a Ouija board. Nope. I’m not participating in your eastern voodoo. Why, yes I believe in a God so big they can come to Earth as an incarnate version of themselves, be born to a virgin, predict their own death, and then rise from the dead BUT WE DRAW THE LINE AT MY PALMS FACING UPWARD! NOT TODAY SUSAN!

For a group of people who believed that because of Christ, we held authority over darkness and demonic forces, we sure were scared of accidentally catching a demon. For a group of people who were so enthusiastic about the POWER of GOD, we sure did operate out of IMMENSE fear.

I love Bob Goff. In his book Love Does, he explains that as a lawyer, when he has a client on the witness stand, he has a rule that they have to keep their hands open, palms facing up. He explains that palms up means “you have nothing to hide and nothing to gain or lose” and that “you are strong enough to be vulnerable.”

In our modern western culture, we have lost so much beautiful connection and symbolism. If you believe God can speak through prayer, song, nature, poetry…why limit that connection to only the languages that you understand? That’s such a small view of God that is based in fear. Personally, that is not how I want to live anymore.

I don’t believe in a list of rules. Sure, I believe in good and evil, light and darkness, but I have opened myself to seeing how God might want to speak to ME. And I’ve definitely stopped worrying about how God might want to speak to YOU. I hold everything up to the question, does this make me more loving? Does this bring more evidence of the Fruit of the Spirit? If so, maybe it’s worth looking into.

Palms up.