By Debbie Ogunjobi
Writing has opened a lot of doors and while I hope it has made more friends than enemies, it’s been a form of therapy over the years. Long before it was popular to have gratitude journals I have kept diaries or what my close friends call my book of lamentations.

I have found it very therapeutic to write down the day’s happenings every night before I sleep. It is normally addressed to God and they normally start with dear Father as I regale the most High with my thoughts and I can’t deny some pages were pure lamentations though others were rather hilarious, especially when read many years later.

My goal of keeping the column for 10 years is but three years away so I am seriously looking forward to writing my thoughts unedited for a change. While I have enjoyed the column over the years I would have really had more fun if I had been allowed to write anonymously and without a picture.

Without the picture I would have been totally disconnected with aesthetics and how razor sharp my wit is would have provided mirth for those with a humour as dark as mine often is. I was asked to describe my world view or philosophy of life in one word for another publication I write for and one perfect word jumped right at me.  Surprisingly it wasn’t English; it’s a word of Hindu origin and it says a lot. Namaste!

Namaste is many things to many people; it is an accepted way of greeting and is traced to India, Nepal, Sri-Lanka and lately anywhere where meditation and yoga is practised. Now to those wondering how and where a born again Christian adopts a world view that is particularly associated with aspects of Indian culture such as vegetarianism, yoga, ayurvedic healing, and many other mystical philosophies of the Far East the meaning says it all.

Namaste means the God in me salutes the God in you. It’s a greeting that is said like a prayer, with palms together over the heart while lightly bowing almost reverentially in a complete act of humility to another person. I can’t think of a better way to live than to acknowledge God in every person regardless of origin, status or creed. It’s been interpreted into English also to mean “I honor the Spirit in you which is also in me.”

Or even better as “I honor the place in you in which the entire Universe dwells; the place in you which is of Love, of Integrity, of Wisdom and of Peace, we are united; we are one.” I honestly hold the philosophy that the Universe is one and that we are all part of that one, united by a love that is greater than we all can grasp.

The world is beautiful because of its diversity and my interest in it has seen me exploring all sorts of literature. While I was born into a Christian family I don’t think I would have classified myself a Christian till I made a conscious choice and confession in my late 20s to be one.

I hold the belief that truth is a direct consequence of information and I have read almost all the books on every major religion the world has. I believe men seek fulfillment outside of the physical and find it in the spiritual; we all have the same needs from the Buddhist monks in Tibet, to the Rabbis in Jerusalem and Sikhs in India.

At the core of my belief system is that man was made in God’s image and that God lives inside all of us; that includes all men; even when they don’t do what I expect or share my core beliefs. When I first heard the word Namaste I had been intrigued by its meaning and as I evolve in my journey I embrace it in all of its beauty. It just describes the person of Jesus and is a greeting that everyone is entitled to whether young or old, rich or poor.

It’s why I don’t dwell in judgment or condemnation; it’s how I am able to respect other people’s choices even when those choices go against all I hold dear; it’s how I am able to separate acts of evil from their perpetrators who I believe if given a chance could be good and to love the often unlovable. I know what my truth is and I am comfortable enough in it not to be rattled by anyone else’s truth.

So it’s easy for me to say Namaste; “that the Divinity within me perceives and adores the Divinity within you”