HARDY HAR HAR

“The fact that we have bodies is the oldest and most universal joke of all.”

No matter how I try to plug this in to a search engine it will not bring up the original context.  I have it in a journal that I keep and attributed it to C. S. Lewis.  This quote has always fascinated me maybe even more now because it is completely out of context and makes me wonder.  (Knowing him, it made such great sense in its proper place.)

Still it makes one think.  It can be taken in so many ways.  The ugliest, most deformed body in the world may also be the most beautiful soul in heaven (and visa versa.)  “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?  The Shadow knows.  Bwahahaha”  I’m sure there will be some surprises at which we have a great guffaw.  

It also is humerious that this body which connects us to other people is also the very reason we need to connect.  We can hear, smell (eesh), see, taste (careful), and feel others.  We have wisdom, understanding, and knowledge to processes what we sense.  But it is all brought into our little space shuttle of sorts to figure out.  Do we ever get passed the “original solitude” about which St. John Paul II wrote about concerning Adam when he was alone in the Garden of Eden?  Even if we think we do, it is not unheard of to go through life thinking it is all figured out and we know those around us and then hearing from someone, “I never loved you,” or the infamous and often equally troublesome phrase, “I have always had a crush on you.”  If a joke is a sudden and unexpected turn of events, there’s one if ever there was one.

There is only One Who is fully with you inside your space shuttle of course.  That would be God.  But I have to believe that when we are resurrected and given new bodies that this glitch will be removed – that the way we are united is in the universal Body of Christ and all of the barriers that keep us apart will be the instruments of our unity.  Could it be this is why Scripture says that there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be made known or brought out into the open (Luke 8:17)?  The walls of the space shuttle will be gone and we will be fully with each other – not fully each other as other religions foresee, but with.

I think of those who think this world is all that there is.  What a lonely thought.  As much fun as this life can be, to think that this is all that there is – is disappointing.  Fountain of youth?  Immortality in this life?  No thank you.  I am enjoying it but I only want to do this once.  I’m counting on heaven and I’m counting on you being there with me.

MONDAY DIARY: ALMOST EXCRUCIATINGLY TRUE STORIES: GUESS WHAT BOOK I'M READING

For Lent, the parish has started a new workout program for those who don't have anything better to do with their early mornings hours besides sleep.  I took it on as part of my Lenten devotions since I've hardly exercised at all during the winter months.  In fact, it is part of a greater Lenten resolve to take a little bit better care of this Temple of the Holy Spirit in general, which has been sorely neglected.  If it were an actual building, it would need a new roof, some plumbing work, and a good paint job.  So here we go.  The only down side is beginning to exercise just before leading Stations of the Cross.  The knees revolted.

Cue: swelling music and a slow crawl up to a standing position. . .

IS THE SMOKER MERELY INCENSING THE TEMPLE?

Sometimes at the end of a confession, when a person has expressed all of the sins they can recall, will ask me, “Can you think of anything else?”  They are not supposing that I know them so well that I might make some suggestion of sin of theirs that I might know about but rather is there any area that they may not have considered.  Visiting a whole examination of conscience is a difficult thing to do especially with Easter on our tails and long lines outside of the confessional, but there are generally a couple of questions I might ask.

 

One is, “Are you taking care of yourself?”  We often think of the Christian life – particularly the road to sainthood – as one of denial.  There are times when the denial of the necessities of life are called for.  There is also both a time for denying ourselves the surpluses in life and a time for celebrating with them.  But as a general rule, we are to treat our bodies (that is, ourselves) with care.

 

The body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit.  There is a certain dignity that is present in that.  We should treat it at least as well as we treat our church buildings.  We believe our churches should be clean, well maintained, well appointed without being ostentatious, welcoming, inspiring, consecrated and wholly directed toward the things that are Godly and noble.

 

Should our bodies, physical and living temples of the Holy Spirit, receptacles of the Body and Blood of Jesus being any less so treated?  Do we give ourselves the rest we need (to the extent we are able), consume the proper food and drink at the appropriate amounts, do we exercise, follow the direction of our doctors, observe the times of penance as well as the times of rejoicing, and adorn our bodies modestly?  

 

Being Christian does not mean we ignore our bodies or our health unless it is called upon for the greater glory of God or benefit of our brothers and sisters.  (After all, we do hold up martyrs as an ideal.)  But this life is also gift, and we should treat this gift as preciously as we can.

MONDAY DIARY: AN EXCRUSIATINGLY TRUE STORY ABOUT LENT

So there is a group at the parish that started working out at the parish the first Monday of lent.  I should point out that it is called "The Insanity Workout" and that they were doing it at 5:45 in the morning which is the same thing.  Fr. Pfeiffer and I decided that as part of our Lenten practice that we would join them.  There is a lot of sacrifice involved here (did I mention the words "insanity" and five-forty five) - and the whole idea of "body as a temple of the Holy Spirit - and so it seemed like a perfectly good Lenten resolve.

Anyhoo, the first day my alarm clock goes off and I pry myself out of bed.  Sebastian walked out of his closet for a moment, took one look at me and (I swear he rolled his eyes) went back to bed.  I dutifully got dressed and started turning on lights in the house.  There was NO sign of Fr. Pfeiffer so I went and knocked his door.  NO RESPONSE.  "Fine," I thought to myself, "This will just give me ammunition to make fun of him later," and I set off for our gym.

Something seemed strange as I approached the building.  There were no cars in the parking lot.

I had miss-set my alarm clock.

After an hour nap both Fr. Pfeiffer and I show up in the gym and the work out began.  My poor body, not having worked out for about six months and having no warning was furious with me.

It was not pretty and definitely not fit for young audiences.  I made it through without either dying (to which I came close) or losing the contents of my stomach (to which I came even closer.)

That would have been Okay.  But then these monsters put in a SECOND TAPE.  "Abs Buster" or some such thing.  All I wanted to do was head back to the rectory and rock in a corner with my arms around my knees if I could still find them but NOBODY ELSE LEFT so of course I witjh all my male pride could not leave either.  I think this time I did die for short period of time.

Fr. Pfeiffer fared MUCH better than I did.  I like to think it was because he was much better prepared than I.

However, I think the real reason is that he is ten years younger.
One of the guys stopped me on the way out with a piece of advice.

I thought he was a bit touched. 

Turns out he was a prophet.  But then again, all prophets are a bit touched.

Life didn't get much better after that.  I have a very heavy chalice that I like to use during lent.  I almost couldn't lift it during the consecration.

As the week went on things got better - not the least of which I became an expert at walking down steps backwards.  I am also considering becoming a poster child for a pain relief cream that someone recommended.  Truthfully, I am amazed that by waking up at 5AM I am getting more done by 11:00AM than I used to get done by 4:00PM.  Of course I am a brain-dead zombie by 9:00PM.

Ahhh - so this is what it is to be 46.

Monday starts week II.

Dear Jesus, if you can hang on a cross for three hours for me, I can do this for you.

CLEANSING THE TEMPLE

Imagine going to Mass and hearing a fifteen minutes homily on how bad you are for not coming to Mass. The ironic part is that the people being harangued are people who are at Mass so maybe a better example are the endless homilies week after week about the paltry collection. If every time I came to Mass I was yelled at, if it weren’t for the Eucharist, I might be inclined not to return. “Why should I go? I’m just going to be told how poor my efforts are.”

Of course at times we all need a little “Come to Jesus” talk. But not constantly. It can be disheartening and off putting to the point that you wonder why you are putting yourself in the situation to feel miserable about yourself.

The domestic church, the home, is much the same. If home is the place where you are constantly nagged at and put down, instead of being the safe haven it is the place you don’t look forward to going after being away and a place from which you look for an excuse to escape when there.

There is a great scene in “The Incredibles” when the husband and wife are having a very difficult go of it. They bicker and yell at each other and it becomes apparent that neither likes being in their roles or in their house. But the wife makes an attempt to break the cycle (almost too late.) She walks up to her husband and says something along the lines of, “I know you hate your job but I want to thank you for sticking it out and doing so much for your family even though it is difficult for you,” and then gives him a kiss on the cheek. Now, instead of hating his job AND hating being home, there is the possibility of turning the home into a safe haven and a place of love, a place to be protected; a place that you mind a little less dong something you dislike because it allows you to defend the place you like.

Even closer to home is the same phenomena in the temple of the body. Say you are trying to rid yourself of some habit/addiction. It is good to feel some amount of guilt which will help you realize that your behavior is worth reforming, but if you constantly beat yourself up - who wants to live in that temple – especially you. Ironically what is the best way to escape feeling miserable (at least in the short term?) by engaging in the very activity that you are trying to escape. Of course after you feel even worse – so what is the best way to escape, by engaging in the very activity that you are trying to escape. Of course you feel even worse – so . . .

While keeping an eye on the desire to rid yourself of certain behaviors, rather than beat yourself senseless, concentrate on celebrating victories. “I feel great today! Yesterday I was free from that activity! Thank you God. Please help me continue. I know I may fall again, but boy does it feel good when there is a victory. Help me to have more days like this. Help me cleanse the temple and let it be a place I enjoy being.”

IF YOU WANT TO FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT, YOU FIRST HAVE TO FIND THE RIGHT RING

There are two major mistakes that people make when they fighting personal vices especially in matters of chastity. They are to be avoided at all costs for any number of reasons the most important of them being that they do not work and that they can be at least mildly heretical.

The first extreme involves the idea that, “I’m going to get all cleaned up and then I will come back to God and ask for forgiveness,” or even if one is inclined already to confession they have in their mind, “I am going to beat this FOR God.” Christopher West refers to this as “White Knuckling It.” “If I try really, really hard I will beat sin on my own!” If this were even possible we would not have needed a Savior. We are in a relationship with God a kin to a marriage. We would not say to our spouse, “I’m going to work on our relationship and then I will return to you and we will live happily ever after.” No, you work on your relationship together each aiding the other in his need.

In a like manner God does not expect, desire, or even consider that we could become saints on our own. He desires all of us, warts, bald spots, and all, not just the pretty parts. He loves us for better or for worse, good times and bad, sickness and health. We should not even try to hide or protect or deny Him access to any part of us – particularly those parts that need His healing!

The other extreme are those who cry out to God to simply take some disordered desire away from them. On the surface this seems like a reasonable enough request. “I want God want, Who I want to love above all else, to take away from me this possibility to love something else more than Him.” Yet if all of our inordinate desires were simply whisked away from us, if we had no choice but to love God, we ironically would not really love Him at all. In order to love one must have free will. If one has free will one must be able to not-love for it is only to the degree that one can not-love that one can love.

So the second step to healing (the first was to realize that healing needed to take place) is to find the right path. The right path is neither “white knuckling it” nor having our problem annihilated. The Christian’s path lies directly between these two and involves recognizing and engaging our true relationship with our God. We, the Church, are the bride and Christ is the Bridegroom and we tackle the difficulties in our relationship together. Before, during, and after every temptation to stray from our Divine Spouse we implore His assistance. He wants to help us and waits for our invitation. We need not be mavericks nor puppets on a string, but partners on our path to holiness and salvation. As Julian of Norwich explains to us that when we entrust God with our whole selves in this way, God, Who is all powerful, then can use that which is damaged in us to bring us more closely to Himself by having the very thing that is designed to pull us further away from Him actually catapult us more deeply into His heart. Such is the power and wonder of God and the frustration of the Devil!

Jumping on the right path may not get you home overnight, but at least now you will be on the right path and the possibility of getting home is greater than it was before.

1 CORINTHIANS 6:19 - GUEST BLOG

Today is a second of a two-part guest blog. If you did not read what M wrote in part one (or want to be reminded of which post it was) look here: JOHN 8:11. The first part may be a bit uncomfortable to read but she brings it home brilliantly as we travel her road to healing with her. This is a difficult topic. The hope is that if someone is on a similar path or contemplating starting down the same path, this sharing of her struggles might lead you to healing or to avoiding needing healing in the first place. Thanks for you bravery M!

PART II

The second healing I needed was from having pre-marital sex. When we were going through Pre-Cana counseling, the priest told us that if we wouldn’t refrain from pre-marital sex for religious reasons, at least do it because once you are sexually active you lose your objectivity about the relationship. Unfortunately, it was too late for us. But I know now how true it is…if you have given another person everything you can, if you have held back nothing, you can’t afford to believe he doesn’t love you.

So again, I went to the adoration chapel. Here is my conversation with God:

I need to be reconciled with my body.

I hate my body. I hate that it’s fat and ugly. I hate that when it’s not fat and ugly, it’s sexy. I hate that even when it is fat and ugly, it’s sexy. I hate that it is a source of sin.

Yes, a source of sin. It was a source of sin when I was young – I used it to get “love in all the wrong places.” I used it in desperation. I was so desperate to be loved that I sold my body…and my soul. Sometimes I think it cost me everything. I know that’s not fair. I know God write straight with our crooked paths – but sometimes I wonder – although I dare not – what would have happened if I had not been so promiscuous.

A source of sin…the sin of contraception, the sin of abortion, all the sexual sins. If I didn’t have a body, I wouldn’t be a sexual being. I could be loved for who I am, not what I look like or what physical ecstasy I bring another person. I hate that the first thing someone sees about me is my body – an empty shell. I hate my body.

If you didn’t have a body, you couldn’t get hugs.

I wouldn’t need hugs

If you didn’t have a body, you couldn’t see or hear or taste or feel

Don’t angels hear and feel (maybe not taste, but if I didn’t have taste, I probably wouldn’t be a food addict – so there!)

Angels don’t hear and feel and see the way you do. They can hear thoughts, but not the crunch of snow or the laughter of children. They cannot see rainbows or sunrises or smiles or a wink. They cannot feel the warmth of the sun or the bitter chill of arctic air.

I would give it all up

They cannot partake of the precious Body and Blood of Jesus

They dwell in his presence!

You do not.

I don’t care. I hate my body!

Hate is a very strong word.

Let me repeat, I hate my body!

Look at me.

Why…why do you always make me look at you?

Look at me.

OK

I knew what it was like to live without a body. I chose to live in one…

I didn’t!

Stop interrupting

Yes sir.

I chose more physical pain than you will ever have. I chose more emotional pain than you will ever have. I made my choices with full knowledge of the consequences, you did not. And I have forgiven you…your body is not the source of your sin, it is your mind. Your body is simply the instrument you use to carry out your sin. You hate your body because you want to separate yourself from the sin.

Hate the sin!

Separate yourself from the shame. Forgive. You were right when you decided that the person you need to forgive the most was yourself. Forgive yourself. Begin to reconcile yourself with your body. It is a gift from me…love it and use it wisely.

Love my body. What is there to love about my body?

It is relatively healthy considering how much I have abused it for the last XX years.

I can see…things I like to see – snow, flowers in the spring, the sun through the clouds, smiles. My children!

I can hear…things I like to hear – music! Rain, wind, the gentle breathing of someone asleep, a baby crying, thunder, a clock ticking, a cheering crow, my own precious name.

I can feel – things I like to feel – hugs! Smooth soft things like velvet, a baby’s skin. My own tears. Cold, warmth. Things I don’t like to feel, but that tell me something is wrong – pain.
I can taste and smell – chocolate, coffee, cinnamon, sweet and sour, bitter, salty. The Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.

I can walk and run. I can use a computer.

But if I don’t blame my body, I have to take responsibility for my actions. Then I have to forgive me.

I have to forgive me for being so needy.
I have to forgive my parents for not knowing how to love me.
I have to forgive myself and my partners for taking advantage of each other.
I choose to let go. I choose to forgive.