“Spirituality is less about shedding your humanity and more about rising fully into it.” 

This week I’ve been pondering the above quote by Liz Milani. It’s led me to thinking about our physical bodies and how we view them. 

If you’ve grown up in the Christian tradition, you may have heard narrative that declares the physical body as evil and or the desires of the body being evil. You’ve heard outrightly or in the sub-text of teaching that your body must be covered up lest you cause someone to stumble. Modesty is required to the point of shaming our physical bodies and rejecting their sexual beauty. 

I am all for a culture that upholds and honours purity, however, I am not for a culture that shames our bodies and causes people on their Spiritual journey to feel guilty about sexual desires, physical attraction, and belonging in their body. 

Can we just say that sex is good! 

Can Christians be honest and say that sex is fun! 

Like anything good, it can be perverted and twisted, yes, but I think we need a more positive story being told about our bodies and our physical beings within our conversation on Spirituality and within the Christian tradition. 

The human and holy are connected and integrated! Your whole self is loved by God! He’s not appalled by your skin, your shape, your physical matter. 

I think people read the story of Adam and Eve and when it says they covered their naked bodies it’s perceived that this action is for God’s sake. Like it would have been offensive to be in the Presence of God uncovered… But think about that for a moment… God knows! God knows you’re naked under your clothes! (and actually, so do the rest of us). Please do not be ashamed of this. It is our own opinion of self that causes cover up. 

Hear me out, I’m not suggesting you walk the streets naked or have no regard for how much of your skin people see. I implore you to respect yourself before others and choose wisely those who have access to your nakedness. I am suggesting, that we break down the lies that say your naked body is offensive and wrong and replace it with the truth that your physicality is wonderful, it is an important part of your whole self, it is sexy (and that is good!) And you do not need to separate yourself from your humanity to be holy. 

Here are a couple of poems that have stemmed from these thoughts over the past couple of weeks, and my own journey of appreciating my physical body… 

—

“Body alive

Active, moving 

Body aware

Aches, bruises 

Body unsure 

Critique, judgement 

Body affirmed 

Caressed, admired 

Body thanked 

Working, useful

Body acknowledged 

Healthy, beautiful”

—

“I used to choose Bible reading 

Prayer and worship song singing 

As the first things to start my day 

But this year I’ve been waking up 

Beginning things in a different way 

I’ve been rolling out my gym mat 

Stretching out on the floor 

Getting my body active 

And it has been so much more 

Awakening to my senses 

Grounding in my core 

To acknowledge my physical matter 

To give it attention and to draw 

My mind into this moment 

Awake 

Alive
Moving 

Knowing my body needs attention 

Being okay with that coming first

After pumping and sweating or 

Lengthening and stretching 

I lay down flat on my back 

I put on a song that ushers in peace 

I slow my breathing and I rest

The inhale and exhale 

Remind me 

The Spirit is connected in every breath 

I remember my life is sustained by Yahweh 

He holds my being, beginning to end

Starting with moving my body 

Brings me into deeper connection with the Divine 

It is not less Holy than reading of Scripture

Less significant than long outspoken prayer 

It’s sinking deeper into my humanity 

Becoming ever more aware 

He is here 

Abiding in me 

In this human vessel, He resides

He’s not afraid of my flesh 

Does not condemn it or ask me to hide 

He’s inside

Alive 

In my mortal body.”

SONYA COSSEY CREATIVE

“William Stafford was once asked in an interview, “When did you decide to be a poet?” He responded that the question was put wrongly: everyone is born a poet—a person discovering the way words sound and work, caring and delighting in words. I just kept on doing, he said, what everyone starts out doing. “The real question is why did the other people stop?””
(from “Run with the Horses: The Quest for Life at Its Best” by Eugene H. Peterson, Eric E. Peterson)

Have you stopped discovering words, the way they sound and work? 

Have you stopped caring for and delighting in words? 

There have been times throughout my life when I have forgotten that I am a poet. When my decisions have not shown what is in my, in our, core. 

Gratefully, I can say that in this phase of life, I am intentionally choosing to be a poet. And you can too. This doesn’t have to look like quitting your job, forsaking all else and writing lines that rhyme for 10 hours a day!

Here are 5 every-day ways to awaken your inner poet: 

1) Pick up a Children’s Book 

If you have your own children, there are probably three most popular books that you’ve read to your kid over and over and over again that you’re so sick of and can no longer find wonder in… But pick any other! 

Undistracted by the things of adulthood, read a book designed for children. See what it stirs in you. The times that I’ve done this, I’ve been surprised by tears, laughter, short intense puffs of breath through my nostrils, and wide grins. 

If you don’t have kids or nieces or nephews around you – go to the library! Pick books off the shelves that look FUN, find a corner and read a few. It may just awaken the poet within. 

2) Enjoy the Story 

Stories are not only found in books or online. Your life is a story. Your friend’s life is a story. Your Dad’s life is a story. The check out operator at your go-to grocery story has a story. The person sitting on the train across from you has a story. The world is FULL of stories. 

When was the last time you listened to a story that you hadn’t already heard about on social media? 

The next time someone shares an experience with you, shows you photos, reports back on how their holiday was, I challenge you to listen with intention, and enjoy the story. 

3) Laugh at the Humour 

I love a good laugh! The poet within us finds joy in the coming together of words in ways that are clever and hilarious. Here’s something I laughed at this week, that you may too.

4) Find Joy in the Pictures 

I bought a piece of artwork off my friend recently (check out @sundaymornings_nz). It’s hung on my office wall and every time I look at it, it invokes peace and happiness in me. 

Pictures are wonderful story-tellers and world-holders. The next time you see a picture that makes you feel something (be it joy or compassion, hope or hurt, or something else), may the poet inside you invite you to linger. Feel the feelings. Absorb the moment. 

5) Engage Your Imagination 

Some children seem to enjoy imaginative play more than others, yet we all have an imagination, and it is a powerful tool! I once heard a teacher by the name of Shane Willard say that words are not nearly as important as the imagination we have of a word. 

It may at first seem non-productive to you, but I encourage you to take some time to re-engage your imagination. One way you could do this, is to write some words on a piece of paper – anything that comes to mind – then read each word, one at a time, and for each word close your eyes and see what your imagination can dream up and picture about that word. You may be out of practise if you’ve been a serious adult for some time, but your imagination is still there – wake it up! Use it daily! 

You, my friend, are a poet. If you try any of the above ways to remember and choose that, I’d love to hear about your experience! 

SONYA COSSEY CREATIVE