native tongue

Aradhna: Namaste Saté

Namasté sate´ sarvalok-ashrayaya
Namasté chité vishwarup-atmakaya
Namo adwait tatwaya muktipradaya
Namo brahmane vyapiné shashwataya

Ultimate Reality, we greet You
In you the whole Universe is held together
Your life fills every nucleus that has ever been created
You dwell in our flesh and bones
Your Great Liberation is to bring us into loving oneness with you,
so full, that we can no longer feel any separation between us
We greet you, O Supreme One, all pervading, and eternal

it is WAY too late for me to be blogging, but we just got home from baton rouge, and it takes me a bit to wind down and be able to fall asleep... and i was thinking about this, so why not? hopefully i will be coherent :) (also on a sidenote, we passed a DWI checkpoint on the way home, and i was driving (because charlie falls asleep at the wheel because he is, in fact, a pawpaw) but the sheriff accused him of being drunk. because he looked so tired. my poor husband was not built to stay up past 10! and i find that quite endearing about him) (also glad for checkpoints even though all the drunk people know about them and avoid them) (that topic's for another day.)

Aradhna. i've know about this band since my freshman year of college and i immediately fell in love with them. they're "missionaries" of sorts, even though i believe some, if not all, of the men have lived in india/nepal at some point. what is so beautiful about their ministry is that they do it so relevantly. basically, as i understand it, they take one of the worship forms of hinduism, and bring it back to Christ. they take the "language" (vocally and culturally) and use that to express what a relationship with God is like. i find it incredible and very moving... i was able to go to two concerts when i was in college and they were beautiful. we all sat closely on the floor and worshiped.

it reminds me of how Paul handled things. he took a city's "unknown god" and turned it into a lesson about Christ. he took what they already knew, and made it relevant. this happened in acts

or how about how God allowed the wise men to find baby Jesus? God used their knowledge... their systems for doing things... essentially their astronomy or astrology (probably a mix of the two) and led them to the good news. He didn't have to do that! He didn't have to speak in their language... but He chose to.

just like He ultimately chose to "speak our language" by making Himself human. pretty awesome, and not to mention humble, if you ask me.

i hope you'll check this band out.. i just really love their music (which is beautiful) and their method (which is probably even more beautiful).