I
always need to rediscover the meaning of Christmas. Two
years ago I learned that Bethlehem
means "House of Lahama." Lahama
is "She who carries forth the light." That
discovery gave new meaning to the words "Christ
was born in Bethlehem." This
year I'm thinking about what brought Mary and Joseph
to Bethlehem in the first place: paying taxes. I'm also
reading Alan Greenspan's memoir, The
Age of Turbulence .
As chairman of the Federal Reserve Board for nearly
20 years, until recently he was our nation's central
banker. The
deregulation of business and industry that Greenspan
supported has allowed greed to flourish. The outcome?
Business failures, frauds, foreclosures, disappearing
pensions, and unemployment. As
frightening as the failure of our familiar institutions
may be, we're right on schedule for profound social
and cultural transformation. How can we use this breaking
apart to begin building anew? As
they say: If you want to make an omelet, you have to
break some eggs. The eggs are breaking. The question
is: How do you want your omelet? To
bring about true transformation — not merely reform
— we need to infuse our economy with ethics. Where
do we find the cultural moral compass that will guide
business decisions toward social justice? How do we
make generosity rather than greed the motivation for
economic activity? We
must also consider: What can we bank on? Whom can we
trust? More
than ever, now's the time to develop the knowing that
dwells within our body's center. This knowing is the
source of our intuition and gut instinct. It's the origin
of our sense of kinship with, and responsibility to,
our fellow creatures. Belly-energizing
movement and breath helps us amplify and trust our inner
guidance. As we move through these turbulent economic
times — making our own bumpy journey to Bethlehem
to pay our taxes — we can bank on the wisdom concentrated
in our body's center. This wisdom, after all, shines
with divine light. Wishing
you well,
Lisa
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