We hunger for the oil of genuine praise and the encouragement towards holiness/wholeness. Woman holiness/wholeness is neither a formula for austerity nor an outward adornment. Women want to be touched. Our bodies crave healing and nurturing touch.
Our holiness/wholeness is in our feet as we place them upon the earth. We are made holy whole when we lay down our lives and when we take up our lives. We are holy whole because God/Godde is holy and whole. For no other reason are we holy and whole. That is all. Because God/Godde is, we are.
We are created in the the image of Godde/God.True self-care is to explore the Godde-ness of our selves. As we explore how God reaches us to teach us we begin to grasp how Godde teaches us all that we need to know if we will listen. For the Sofia of God is not aggressive – though she is persistent.The love of God/Godde (from The Message version of the Bible), never gives up, cares more for others than for self, doesn't want what it doesn't have, doesn't strut, doesn't have a swelled head, doesn't force itself on others, isn't always "me first," doesn't fly off the handle, doesn't keep score of the sins of others, doesn't revel when others grovel, takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, puts up with anything, trusts God always, always looks for the best, never looks back, but keeps going to the end.
Now, women can take care of ourselves by wrapping ourselves in this love and insisting upon no other Lover than the Lover that is capable of such love! We seek Godde.
There was a time when women had to work hard to run a house. Today women work hard to run a house and an office, or hospital ward, or production line, or service route. Women work hard. And over time, the amount of our time that is touch time has dwindled. Time is at a premium. We often do not do things for ourselves because of the time we would have to take from our other (believed to be) more important responsibilities. As a result, we attempt to convince ourselves that having our car serviced is something we actually do for ourselves –and it is since a safe car contributes to our own safety. But having our car serviced has in it none of the touch time so many of us women hunger for.
Western theology and traditional Christian thought has provided a clear division between the natural and godliness. We even have language like “carnal” and “divine” as being in opposition to each other. The dichotomous mindset of the West is one with which I strongly disagree. I think spiritual worship can be through the body (considered carnal) as much as I believe that physical contact can possess the nature of worship.
I do not believe Godde allowed evil to be made from what God created as good no more than the religious quackery practiced by some has not changed the gospel of grace one iota! I refuse to imagine that there is something filthy about my body that is so amazingly and wonderfully made. God was not the one who told us we were naked!
What were you taught about your body? What struggles do you have to this day because somewhere along the line someone showed you or told you that your body was dirty or ugly or base? Offer these up to the Divine Spirit and create ways to heal your own spirit...
