Jesus came in the flesh- incarnating this world fully God and fully human.
We are embodied souls, souls with bodies.
Spirited bodies.
Yes, many of us have some fleshiness issues that stem largely from Plato and plenty of others who followed. I find myself unwilling to live in this body of mine- not because it's unfavorable most of the time- but because I'd rather find value in my mind. I guess I feel my mind can contribute something more eternal- scholarship, compassion, education- than my body can offer. But my body cannot be separated from these things. My rejection of a hyper-sexualized culture or the fleeting vitality of youth does not mean I must reject my body.
So, I embraced my body yesterday. We (my body and I) went to the park, to sit and watch the geese and take in the beautiful weather. We took a long walk in the breezy-ness, in a breezy skirt and a long scarf. We felt the sun on our face. We pondered Jesus' parable of the big dinner (Luke 14) and remembered what it's like to sit with people around the table enjoying good food. We remembered being welcomed in to the group. We practiced our orchestral parts for next week, and we felt the vibrations of the resonate violin through our neck and face. We could feel fourth position nicely against our wrist, and the really out-of-tune notes were like a daggers to the gut. We talked to people and offered compassion and got a little pushy and hugged and kissed. We did many things we normally do, but together.
When it was time to sleep, I had the same feeling that I have every night as I'm falling asleep- the almost-dream of flying through the air, looking down at all the street lights on at night, spinning and soaring. The difference was that instead of looking at myself flying through the air, I could feel it. It was a 1st-person dream, rather than a 3rd-person encounter.
Today, I shall live in my body again.
