Creating More Culture

On my bedside table lie the following words… “What Sex Feels Like in a Threesome.”  Followed by “…When You’re Cheating…and More!”  I glanced down at those words – headlines on a magazine I actually subscribe to – and felt indigestion.  Followed by a growing sadness, then a fleeting desire to park that big inflatable rat – you know the one, they put it outside city buildings during union protests – outside the magazine’s offices.  Because – come on, there are tweens reading these headlines in supermarket lines!  Not to mention the second graders!

I am not in favor of burning books.  To me that whole movement is shockingly wrong.  Also, organized boycotts (on issues short of crimes such as human trafficking) just seem fairly lame to me.  I once had an acquaintance in her early 20’s who attempted to organize a widespread boycott of Victoria’s Secret because she found their window displays much too risqué.  I confess I found her approach flat and remarkably ineffective.  (Also, she should NOT window shop on Christopher Street.)  If my pastor at church told me not to vote a certain way, or to avoid a certain movie, book or exhibit, his prohibition would probably freak me out (and might even tempt me to go investigate just the thing he warned against).

But when the culture keeps turning out movies like “Hall Pass” and magazine headlines like “Why You Should Have Married Rich,” I feel pretty sickened.  I want a change – I want something fresh and clean, something pure.  (Writing that reminds me that I need to change Lucy’s diaper as soon as I post this blog entry…extend that analogy as much as you’d like.)

I sat in on an entrepreneurial forum the other week, and one speaker addressed the issue of a depraved culture.  He said the only response that would have any redeeming effect on the culture is to create more culture. To add something beautiful to the culture.  That approach completely resonated with me.  In fact, it’s one of the main reasons I started Still the Sea.

I love yoga as a physical discipline, but some Christians have encouraged a ban on yoga within the faith.  A regular yoga practice (paired with healthy eating) gives you a rocking body, there’s no denying.  Plus, I think yoga has incredible potential for helping to build spiritual and mental discipline.  While I agree with Southern Baptist Seminary President Albert Mohler that yoga has roots in Hinduism and Buddhism, and I am neither Hindu nor Buddhist, I disagree with his premise that Christians should “avoid it at all costs.”  Much more inspired do I find people such as the awesome Brooke Boon who essentially added to the culture something beautiful – Holy Yoga, a form of yoga with its roots in Christian spirituality.  Creation, rather than denunciation.

Rather than boycotting yoga, I decided to create a Biblical yoga mat to take to class.  At Still the Sea, we ended up making five such mat varieties.  I love bringing them to yoga class.  Rather than emptying my mind, I love looking down at my mat and meditating on God’s word.  The words on the mat shine a light in that class.  We’re selling the mats in the Still the Sea Shop – see what you think.

That’s my vision for Still the Sea.  Something fresh and clean, something pure to add to the culture. Products and content that shine light in the darkness.  That’s the hope anyway.  Would love to hear what you think!

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