Bless
the Physical
“Whether
you are sick or well, lovely or irregular, there comes a time when it is
vitally important for your spiritual health to drop your clothes, look in the
mirror, and say, ‘This is the body-like-no-other that my life has shaped. I live
here. This is my soul’s address.’”
Barbara
Brown Taylor (An Altar in the World, p.38; Harper One, 2009)
Many of
us are trying to take off the extra pounds we put on during the Covid shut
down. We were at home with a refrigerator nearby, with nothing more interesting
to do than eat. Speaking for myself, of course. But I happen to know that there
are others as well. The gyms closed, we had difficulty exercising in a mask,
our infirmities don’t allow running or biking. And so on, and so forth.
As a
result, we have been on a self-destructive journey—a critical, self-bashing, self-rejecting
feast of negativity. It’s gross, and it’s not at all helpful. We used food as
comfort to get through a very rough time—how terrible is that? We have calmed
ourselves by eating more that usual. It’s not a crime, but now we are paying
the consequences. It’s time to appraise the situation because of its impact on
our health, not because we are bad people who need to punish ourselves for
over-indulgence. If that is the only unhealthy thing we did to steady our
nerves through a life-threatening crisis, then we did pretty well.
I have
been hard on myself, so it was helpful to pick up An Altar in the World
this morning and open it to the passage above. It can be found in the chapter
titled, “The Practice of Wearing Skin.” This is one of Taylor’s best books and
best chapters—simply because so many of us reject our bodies on principle. She brings home the idea that your body is shaped by your life and your
genetics; but more importantly, that it is the dwelling place of your soul in
this lifetime. It, therefore, deserves some respect.
There
are many ways to respect your body. One is to feed it decent food—not fat and
sugar, as tasty as they are. Another is to sleep well. And of course, get regular
exercise. Which is something our ancestors didn’t have to think about, but we
do. They worked in the fields and factories all day, every day, engaged in physical
labor. When I think about the housework that my mother did, which included
mopping, sweeping, starching, ironing, hanging basket loads of heavy wet
laundry on a clothesline, running a vacuum cleaner, chopping, cooking, cleaning
up and washing dishes…I’m tired just thinking about it. And many of our mothers
had a job in addition to all those chores. Who had time or desire to exercise?
There
is absolutely nothing wrong with heavy labor—I personally feel good in my body
and soul when I do it. What is toxic, though, is self-hatred and self-criticism
for having a few extra pounds on your body. Your soul is conveyed by this body for
the duration of this lifetime. We can make our body a welcoming environment, or
we can make it a living hell, if we choose. If we care for and are concerned
about our soul, then it would behoove us to treat our body kindly; to care for
it as we would a temple, and to love it. Make kindness toward yourself part of
your post-covid diet.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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