Thursday, February 07, 2013

It Is Written On The Tea Bag, The Yogi Tea Bag


Over the last couple of years, Jamie and I have become fans of drinking tea, and in late 2011, made the discovery (thanks to an incredible deal at Kroger) of Yogi Tea. This company has fun and inspirational sayings on its tea bags, and the teas that we have tried have been pretty delicious as well.

The photo above, was taken of the note on a bag of tea I opened last spring. I took a photo of it because I felt like it was one of the best quotes I had seen written on the bag, and addressed much of how I believe we should strive to live.

Travel Light--This has multiple meanings for me. Being on the road a good bit in recent years, I've learned to travel without ever checking bags (even during a two week trip to Kenya and the Nederlands). Separately, we regularly go through clothes and other items we have amassed and redistribute it. And often, we work to slow the accrual of things by choosing not to buy. Traveling light, helps keep our life a little more simple, and simplicity is something I believe we could all use more of today.

Live Light--To me, this one is just an encouragement to let go of anything that could weigh me down. Life is too short to carry baggage from the past through it. I guess this is sort of like traveling light, but I think of it more as not allowing ourselves to be weighed down and encumbered. In the words of Jesus, "Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Living light for us involves taking Jesus easy yoke and light burden.

Spread The Light--Again, multiple meanings for this one. I think about this as doing things like serving others, sharing in joy, laughter, and love, and even mourning together with others. As often as we can make a practice of loving God and neighbor well, we spread the light. Also, the organization I work for, Nuru, is a kiswahili word that means light. I love to share Nuru's story with others and thus "spread nuru," and I love seeing others do the same.

Be The Light--Going back to the word Nuru, we encourage our supporters to "Be Nuru" by getting involved with our work and helping to fight extreme poverty. I also think this phrase has something to do with making the choice to care for others, influence others positively, and working to be a light spot in the days and lives of all who we encounter as we journey through life.

What about you? Do you have any words of inspiration that help encourage you to be the best version of yourself you can be? May we all strive to travel light, live light, spread the light, and be the light.

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