"Genuine spiritual disciplines and disciplines that intrude into our lives at points where we are in bondage to something that garbles, debases, and distorts the word God speaks us forth to be."
M. Robert Mulholland
"Make ready for Christ, whose smile - Like Lightning - sets Free the song of Everlasting Glory that now Sleeps, in your Paper Flesh.
Thomas Merton.
God Inhabits Our Bodies, Delighting In Every Inch Of Us.
Every eccentricity and peculiarity is received, every longing and self-destructive habit is known, God knows us through and through and still wants to make his home inside of us.
The fact that the Holy Spirit wants to abide in us is one way we know how Infinitely precious and beloved we are, we are God's own prized possessions, and prized possessions are something you take care of.
Yet for some of us, taking care of our bodies seems sub-biblical.
Somewhere or other we learned an acronym for 'Joy' the went like this: Jesus First, Others second, yourself last.
There is Truth in this adage, but it can also morph into a twisted theology about human worthlessness, human beings are never worthless.
God gave his dearest and only Son to Love human beings - beings he treasures and adores. One of the greatest gifts we have next to Jesus is ourselves, we are gifts of God and His Spirit Lives In Us.
We are to take it in and let it form us into a place of prayer.
God's Love within us gives birth to more Love: Love of God, of others and of ourselves.
Love is not a quantity we use up, it is a quality of God that grows within us, enlarging out hearts and our capacity to give and receive.
Self - Love is not about 'Self-Centeredness', it's about caring for the body the Holy Spirit Inhabits.
Self-Care can be a "Spiritual" act of Worship.
In Romans 12:1-2 Paul says that spiritual act of worship happens in our bodies.
Spirituality doesn't happen somewhere in your head, outside the concreteness of your own body life, the spiritual life shows up in bodies that {Love God and Our Neighbors as Ourselves}.
Parker Palmer writes in Let Your Life Speak, "Self-care is never a selfish act - it is simply good stewardship of the only gift I have, the gift I was put on earth to offer others."
When we pay attention to our bodies, they tell us truth about ourselves.
By Listening to them we can detect Lethargy, escape strategies, energy levels, dependence of caffeine, addictions to food, compulsions to work, signs or burnout and so on.
These messages are meant to be taken seriously, Self-care need not be a selfish act. Exercise, rest, and nourishing food aren't meant to be 'Luxuries' but the "Staples" of Good Self-care.
Regular checkups, eating healthy food, spending time with friend: these habits honor the way God made us, "Respecting" our bodies (including their Limitations) is a way God communicates his council and will to us.
Our Tiredness reveals that we are not infinite beings.
We need "Boundaries", we need Rest, we need to say (No) as well as {Yes}, we need to know that what we can do sometimes, we cant do all the time.
The Trinity doesn't call us to overload our bodies and ignore physical symptoms of disease and distress.
Rather we are called to recognize body information that can help us make good choices about how to spend our time, grow relationships and nurture our Souls.
As we practice self-care we intentionally receive ourselves as God's own beloved.
Receiving this Love into our bodies "Births" the ability to give love and forgiveness to ourselves and others.
Share reference: Spiritual Disciplines Handbook - Adele Calhoun.
Self-care honors God, under God, through nurturing and protecting the body, mind, and Spirit with their Limits and Desires.
ReplyDeleteOur Tiredness reveals that we are not infinite beings. We need "Boundaries", we need Rest, we need to say (No) to what we should no longer condone done against us by worlds sinister avarice man.
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