A "Housesitter Approach" to Our Bodies

Some thoughts from Anna:


So far, I have been training for the fast by avoiding most things non-plantish. What a difference in two things:

#1: My cravings! Gone! I had a bite of homemade apple pie last night and regretted it immediately not because the pie wasn't tasty, but because my stomach grumbled about it the whole night and my taste buds recoiled with the exclamation, "No more! Please! We'll DIE of sweetness!"

How convenient that our appetites begin to correspond to our ideals, once we take the step and begin a new lifestyle. It reminds me of faith, in that sense. You have to step out of your usual rut and embrace something new. There is a withdrawal period, where all you can think consuming are the things you shouldn't. Eventually, your palate adjusts like a connoisseur. You train yourself to appreciate what once seemed a subtlety as a vibrancy of flavor. Ephesians 5 talks about foolish talk and course jesting being far from us, since it is unfitting for children of light. Yet, how often do we indulge in that one witty come-back with as little thought as that invested in a bag of Doritos? I pray for there to be something distinctly natural and wholesome about what that passes through my mouth this lent. Like Jesus said, it is what comes out that defiles you. That means words. May our words be seasoned with the myriad flavors of God, and may we fill up on the diverse banquet He sets before us in Who He is. May His presence pour into our souls like water, cleansing us with new life and purity, filling us to overflowing.

#2 My attitude toward my body. It's high time I started treating my body like it really is: a holy place that God chooses to inhabit. I remember someone at a yoga studio saying, "Your body is your home. You are in it for the rest of your life. Treat it well. Show love and care for it. Honor it. It will serve you as well as you serve it." That was such a foreign concept to me, and it needs to be preached from the pulpit. Until that yoga session, I viewed my body as the "flesh," against which I am to declare war while battling to squeeze into next summer's bathing suit. It occurs to me now that the flesh Paul is talking about is really not the material thing itself. That meat and boney part of me is good. It can't help the law of entropy or disease. The body should NOT be seen as the source for temptation, although it certainly furnishes the conditions. Eve ate out of desire for unnatural power and knowledge, not out of physical hunger. My body is just a house leased by a mostly irresponsible tenant, my will. My body is already subjected to my will. The problem is, my will behaves more like a bad housesitter than an owner. God bought it and arranged for me to have a free lease; now its up to me to take full responsibility and treat it like He would want me to. Gratitude ought to be my motivation for one of the best gifts He has entrusted to me. "You are not your own, you were bought with a price. Therefore, honor God with your body."

Does God love our bodies? If so, how can we practice loving our bodies the way God would want us to?

Anna