Spiritual Courage and the Body
While human beings have found lots of things to differ on, one that we can all agree on is the fact of our bodies, which come in many different shapes, sizes, colors, and abilities, and are each subject to the universal forces of time and gravity.
A great deal of the human journey has to do with learning how to live in these "flesh coats", enjoying them, discovering what they are capable of, doing our part to keep them strong, and learning how to "lay them aside gracefully when the time comes". It is said that the body is a temporary temple for the Spirit and that we would do well not only to enjoy them and the pleasures they afford, but also to be wise and compassionate and generous in how we expend our physical strengths.
Spiritual courage comes, in part, from our ability to recognize not only the force for good that our bodies can be, but also the gift of physical impermanence.
These are some of the questions we might explore during a Spiritual Direction session:
What are your core beliefs about having a physical form?
What have you learned about its beauty, worth and purpose? From whom did you learn it? How did that help or hinder you?
What attitudes towards your body or the bodies of others are you wanting to understand or relate to differently?
What do you believe happens to "you" after your body is laid to final rest?
When do you feel most alive?
*
This is how I am choosing (today) to answer such questions for myself:
I love the quote "we are spiritual beings having a physical experience"
I have struggled to grow into a appreciation for my body, and to recognize my real beauty, worth and purpose as independent of it. I learned that primarily through the feminist movements and through the modeling of other women, particularly as they age.
In this age of increased attention being paid to the particularities of our physical experience, I am curious about how to honor those distinctions while honoring the unity that underlies all physical diversity.
I believe that the consciousnesses that I identify with "me" is released at death and that, as energy, it never dies - perhaps returning to incarnation a bit wiser...
I feel most alive when I am in prayer or meditation, when I am creating something, when I am with others enjoying physical existence, able to recognize Spirit within and beyond it.
Additional Reflections:
One of the benefits of being at this stage of my life is that I don't take my physical being for granted. While I've always enjoyed bike riding and hiking, I've tended to consider myself fairly sedentary - more likely to spend hours absorbed in a book or an art project than sweating in a gym. That has changed. In 2012 I took up weight-training, boxing, zip-lining and trance-dancing. All of these activities became a regular part of my life, enhancing concentration, energy, mood and sleep. Unfortunately, a bad case of Lyme Disease forced me to give that up (temporarily, I'm hoping) for less intense workouts. I currently enjoy taking my dogs for little hikes in the area and working with a trainer at HealStrength three times a week. In 2017 I took up hula hoop and poi/fire spinning - which is a physical workout (and spiritual practice) I can do pretty much anywhere.
This year I've returned to working with people who are on hospice, actively facing the decline of their physical identity. It is such an honor to accompany folks on that journey, which is ahead of each one of us. Death is, as they say, one of the things we all have in common, and a reminder to treat one another with compassion and tender appreciation.
A great deal of the human journey has to do with learning how to live in these "flesh coats", enjoying them, discovering what they are capable of, doing our part to keep them strong, and learning how to "lay them aside gracefully when the time comes". It is said that the body is a temporary temple for the Spirit and that we would do well not only to enjoy them and the pleasures they afford, but also to be wise and compassionate and generous in how we expend our physical strengths.
Spiritual courage comes, in part, from our ability to recognize not only the force for good that our bodies can be, but also the gift of physical impermanence.
These are some of the questions we might explore during a Spiritual Direction session:
What are your core beliefs about having a physical form?
What have you learned about its beauty, worth and purpose? From whom did you learn it? How did that help or hinder you?
What attitudes towards your body or the bodies of others are you wanting to understand or relate to differently?
What do you believe happens to "you" after your body is laid to final rest?
When do you feel most alive?
*
This is how I am choosing (today) to answer such questions for myself:
I love the quote "we are spiritual beings having a physical experience"
I have struggled to grow into a appreciation for my body, and to recognize my real beauty, worth and purpose as independent of it. I learned that primarily through the feminist movements and through the modeling of other women, particularly as they age.
In this age of increased attention being paid to the particularities of our physical experience, I am curious about how to honor those distinctions while honoring the unity that underlies all physical diversity.
I believe that the consciousnesses that I identify with "me" is released at death and that, as energy, it never dies - perhaps returning to incarnation a bit wiser...
I feel most alive when I am in prayer or meditation, when I am creating something, when I am with others enjoying physical existence, able to recognize Spirit within and beyond it.
Additional Reflections:
One of the benefits of being at this stage of my life is that I don't take my physical being for granted. While I've always enjoyed bike riding and hiking, I've tended to consider myself fairly sedentary - more likely to spend hours absorbed in a book or an art project than sweating in a gym. That has changed. In 2012 I took up weight-training, boxing, zip-lining and trance-dancing. All of these activities became a regular part of my life, enhancing concentration, energy, mood and sleep. Unfortunately, a bad case of Lyme Disease forced me to give that up (temporarily, I'm hoping) for less intense workouts. I currently enjoy taking my dogs for little hikes in the area and working with a trainer at HealStrength three times a week. In 2017 I took up hula hoop and poi/fire spinning - which is a physical workout (and spiritual practice) I can do pretty much anywhere.
This year I've returned to working with people who are on hospice, actively facing the decline of their physical identity. It is such an honor to accompany folks on that journey, which is ahead of each one of us. Death is, as they say, one of the things we all have in common, and a reminder to treat one another with compassion and tender appreciation.