April Newsletter
April is also Gotcha Month for Locket!
Dear friends,
Whew—what a month March was. It was full of travel (and travel delays), teacher trainings (both in-person and online), and lots of learning along the way. I even had an article published in a local magazine. And, of course, there are the current events and the ongoing barrage of news that can leave even the most optimistic among us feeling anxious, outraged, and/or numb. As usual, I’ll leave commentary on those details to the pundits and politicians.
It is Holy Week in the Christian tradition and I find myself thinking about rebirth and renewal. If you know me, you know I am a bit “iffy” on some aspects of the Easter story. I struggle with the theology of substitutional atonement, promises of postmortem salvation have never held much allure for me, and I have long been more interested in who Jesus might have been in his life than in the mysteries of his resurrection and ascension.
And yet, I am fully on board with Easter’s themes and what I understand to be its central promise: that Love endures through changing forms and through the loss of what is known and cherished, both within and without. That Love—not empire, not oppression, not even death—has the final word. I have come to believe that a life organized around this promise invites an ongoing examination of my own blocks to Love’s flow. It repeatedly draws me into a tender awareness of the ways we all love through imperfect vessels, and it challenges me to deepen my understanding of what solidarity in suffering truly means.
Years ago, Kelly and I toured a winery that included a tasting. As we gushed over a particularly delicious wine, the guide told us, “Oh yes, that is a great vintage. We had very little rain that year, and the grapes really suffered.” He explained that under difficult conditions, the vines are stressed and forced to direct their energy into the fruit rather than the leaves, which can result in exceptional wine. Of course, there are no guarantees—too much stress can kill the vines, insects may invade, and not all winemakers produce something remarkable.
I think Love is like that, too. As I see it, the promise of Easter is a promise of possibility—of the potency that arises when we dare to look directly at what is damaged, hurting, and broken, while still asserting that healing, restoration, and redemption remain possible. It is a bold proposition, and one I find myself holding onto as many of the structures of our shared world feel unstable, and as violence and deceit seem to be gaining ground.
Perhaps it’s a strange moment in the cultural zeitgeist to be talking about Love. And with the rise of Christian nationalism, it may feel like a complicated time to engage Christian themes openly. And yet, maybe there is no better time to turn toward what is essential rather than peripheral—to meet the stresses of our time in such a way that, someday, we might look back and say, “yes—and what a remarkable vintage that yielded.”
So yeah, all that. I hope that yoga practice or one of my upcoming programs helps you tend the vines of your life and that it will work for you to come to class, a workshop, or a training soon. As always, please let me know how you are doing on and off your mat— I enjoy hearing from you and getting glimpses into your life’s challenges and celebrations.
Love,
Christina
