Dear friends,
Today I would like each of us to pause and mindfully consider the wonderful gift that is our body.
But first let us pause for a few moments.
Let us allow our breath to bring us back to that elusive place of calm where body and mind come together.
Let's be still for a little while.
Just bring your attention to the breath as we mindfully breathe in and out.
Breathing in in awareness.
And breathing out in awareness.
Well done.
Now let us turn our attention to our wonderful human body.
We begin by directing our attention to our feet.
For those of us who have the gift of mobility,
It's wonderful to contemplate the feet.
These are the feet with which we took our first steps shortly after our arrival in this world.
Indeed,
Long before we even emerged from the womb,
They were active.
Even then we were wriggling and kicking as our mothers would be happy to verify.
These feet have given us the gift of independent mobility.
They caused joy and excitement as we took our first steps.
As we grew up,
These feet brought us to places of education and learning.
At times they led us into trouble.
At other times they helped us escape from trouble.
Just two feet,
Just ten toes,
Leaving us with memories for a lifetime.
Let's take a quick tour of the body,
Time to notice its working parts.
The joys and the sorrows that we have experienced through having this body with which to explore and to relate to the world.
As we consider each part,
We might flex and un-flex it so as to become more aware of the particular part,
More grateful for it.
So we move our attention to our ankles,
Our shins,
Our knees.
Just think what a miracle of engineering there is in our knees.
Our thighs,
Our buttocks,
Hips,
Groin,
Abdomen.
And when we think of our stomach,
We think of how it manages to convert our food into energy,
How it converts our food into us.
Then we have our backs keeping our bodies straight,
Giving us the ability to walk upright.
Our chest rising and falling with each breath as our lungs take in the life-giving air.
Stop to notice our heart beating,
Beating from the first moment of its formation until we take our very last breath.
And all the unseen organs within,
The blood coursing through our veins,
Bringing oxygen everywhere,
Carrying out repairs,
Ferrying antibodies to fight off illness.
We are wonderfully made.
Notice our arms,
The complicated structure of our elbows and wrists,
And our hands capable of the most delicate work.
Think of the precision and the skill of a surgeon.
How we place ourselves under the care of a dentist for the intricate job of repairing our teeth.
Notice how our arms can be used to comfort one another,
Being present,
Giving presents,
Giving hugs.
Next we move on to our neck.
Notice its flexibility,
Supporting our head,
Where we have eyes to see,
Ears to hear,
A nose with which to smell,
Mouth and lips and teeth and tongue,
And cradled within our head,
Our brain,
With its 100 billion cells,
Cells as numerous as all the stars in the galaxy.
We know more about the universe than we do about the human brain,
This amazing brain with its 100 trillion connections,
Holding our thoughts,
Our memories,
Our decision-making ability,
Our capacity for love,
Our capacity for gratitude,
Compassion.
We are wonderfully made,
Each of us unique.
In the entire history and the future of the universe there will never be another you or another me.
That's a life-changing thought.
Each of us is wonderfully made.
We can rise above the physical and mental limitations that are unique to each of us.
Our talents are reflected in the uniqueness of each of our bodies and personalities.
