October 24, 2018

“Your sacred space is where you can find yourself again and again.”—Joseph Campbell

I do a fair amount of weight training. It has been part of my normal physical activity since January 2015. In my everyday life, I alternate between weightlifting and sitting in front of a computer or a book. I alternate between big, powerful physical exertion and stasis. Before 2015, it was pretty much stasis for me, with an occasional stroll around the neighborhood. In many ways, weigh training is more like meditation for me than exercise.

These days, I am able to perform 3 sets of 15 squats with an 85 lbs. barbell resting on my shoulders. It took time to get to this level, and I find it immensely satisfying. Heavy lifting makes me strong, a way to ward off some of the effects of aging perhaps. But even more important to me, heavy lifting makes me feel strong. It connects me to an inner core of strength enabling me to bear the strain of living in this country at this time in our complicated national history.

I relish the last few repetitions of my squats with the 85 lbs. barbell, toes up to maintain the weight on my heels and thus on my hamstrings and glutes. The correct position so that I don’t harm myself, so that I can maintain proper form and the drive to finish the set. Exercise like this prepares me mentally for a much simpler and much harder one—a body plank with my hands balanced on a med ball. During this exercise, I don’t have to pick up anything heavy. I only have to convince myself that I can stabilize my weight and hold the position. It is a mentally, not a physically, challenging exercise.

My best days of exercise, my best single moments of exertion, come when I focus mentally and spiritually on the task. The best moments are when I draw strength from my inner being to persuade my body against discomfort and stress that I can do this thing. And thus, my physical strength feeds my mental and spiritual strength in a beautiful self-perpetuating loop. I do it, I remind myself I can do it, I do it. I remind myself I can do it, I do it, I remind myself I can do it. Thus, I build resolve and resilience. I build capacity to withstand discomfort and a desire to return to the hard and satisfying practice.

It’s from a spiritual well of strength, fostered by mental and physical exertion, that I have developed a capacity to bear the strain of living in this country at this time. I find it far too easy, maybe you do too, to lose hope that justice will be done for the migrants fleeing violence and war in Central America. It is hard to bear the multiple attempts to once again structurally impose restrictions on voting rights. It is sickening to imagine that transgender identity could be eliminated legally after all the efforts to recognize the full spectrum of humanity. It is far too easy to turn away from this nightmare of repression and cruelty.

And so we must seek a quiet center within each of ourselves, we must build a quiet sanctuary at our centers, as a place of refuge, as a place to gather strength and resilience for a re-commitment to engage the pain and injustice of this world. Let us come together as a community to build our individual strength for the work creating goodness and compassion in a hurting world.

Looking forward to seeing you soon, especially in church.

Blessings and best wishes, Rev. Rita