THE BODY AND THE SELF

I was sitting in a coffee shop watching a snowfall. It was one of those fluffy, angelic snowfalls with the huge flakes that looks like it belongs in a movie. The round, crystallized droplets fall on the dirty city and make everything fresh. I don't know what it was about that snow but it connected me to the physicality of myself, tied my inner workings to my location and identity. I had this revelation-of-sorts that I was Danica and I was alive. It sounds silly to write on a blog and reflect on, but I think the truth is that we often don't take the time, or feel the need to connect with the physical self and enjoy our own presence or action.
I've been reading a book called "Eve's Revenge" by Lilian Barger which talks about how disconnected from our bodies we've become. Especially as women, we've been conditioned to think of body as bad, and we teach ourselves to let our minds and emotions float free of the physical. We forget that God created our bodies, our selves, and said it was good. We forget that He uses the physical things to connect us to others and Himself. In her book, Barger talked about how Mary is seen by some as the perpetual virgin because we like to disconnect the body from spirituality, but in reality Mary's body was the vessel which the Lord used to carry out His ultimate redemptive plan. Mary's connection to her body, her pregnancy, allowed her to be fully engaged in the miracle taking place in her life and in herself.
I think we spend most of our time complaining about our bodies, whether it's how large or small they are, or the things that pain us, or the functions they naturally engage in. When was the last time you enjoyed the things that your body can do? That you walked to class and marveled at the creation of your walking? That you woke up from sleeping and thought "God Himself is revealed in this action"? That you gave someone a hug and stood aghast at how the motion of your arms could minister to a soul?
God has given us senses and motion to empower us for His work. When we occupy our bodies, we become available for that work, no longer fearful of physicality.