Body
and Soul
“’I
began to feel at peace with my body again after being very angry that it had
let me down,’ the woman explained. Walking she had found herself remembering
all the people who had walked with her through her surgery and treatment.”
Barbara
Brown Taylor (An Altar in the World, p.61; Harper One, 2009)
This story comes from Barbara Brown Taylor’s book An
Altar in the World, Chapter 4, “The Practice of Walking on the Earth:
Groundedness.” It is about a woman who came to the Chartres Cathedral to walk
the Mother Labyrinth after her final breast cancer treatment. Her husband came
too and walked to the middle of the labyrinth to hold the center while she made
her way out on the twisting, turning path. It is a beautiful image of ritual, and
good example of healing by letting go of anger.
Most of us understand the feelings of betrayal we have
when our body lets us down in some way. Whether breast cancer, or prostate cancer,
diabetes, a bad hip or knee, kidney stones, heart attack, COPD. Whatever
chronic problem we may have seems like it shouldn’t be—not for us! Why me? We
also feel betrayed when age begins to show on our bodies and our faces. We
(speaking for myself, here) buy creams and toners, and, as a nation, we pump
billions of dollars into the cosmetics industry trying to regain what we feel
has been taken from us. Mostly, the winners in this skin contest are the shareholders
of the cosmetics companies and whoever sells their products.
One thing that gets overlooked in this scenario of anger
toward one’s body is gratitude for all the years that body has served us—us being
the human soul residing within that body. We see ourselves as two separate
parts—there is always a “me” looking at “you,” when we look in the mirror. We may
be saying, “Whoa dawg, you are lookin’ good!” or “Damn, girl, you have really let
yourself go!” but either way the me who lives within is speaking to the one who
lives life out in the world. I think this split is why we are so critical of
our own bodies.
I propose this: look in the mirror and say, “Thank You, for
your service.” And maybe even, “I love you and want to take care of you.” And
then, say, “We face this world together and we are fine exactly as we are.” Your
body and your soul depend upon each other. We cannot love one and hate the
other or neither will be healthy. I believe that when you affirm your wholeness,
you become more aware of how to take care of what you are—a body in service to a
soul.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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