Tag Archives: body

Beach Body

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Beach Body

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for bodies all over this beach,
like a bowl of mixed nuts
tossed in saltwater
and spread on the sand to dry.
How I am tempted to sort them
by shape and size and color.

Blessed are You for the confidence of jiggling white cheeks, divided by a teal thong,
for laissez-faire, leathered breasts who’ve seen more sun than most faces,
for awkward couples not sure how much of one another’s bare skin to touch,
and couples who’ve been walking barefoot in the foamy tide since before I was born.

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for every brave body,
here for sun and water and sand—
but also to be seen,
to remind me that every body is a “beach body.”
To paraphrase Jesus,
“The beach was made for bodies,
and not bodies for the beach.”
Every salty nut belongs.

Insides Wiggle Out

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Insides Wiggle Out

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe,
for wiggles—
unrefined thrusts of a baby’s arms and legs,
tapping of my husband’s foot at the dinner table,
juvenile explosion of motion in the back seat
on the drive home from school.

Blessed are You for gifting us movement,
a continuous giving—
our muscles and limbs expressing
anxiety, desire, welcome, fear,
the literal shaking of sorrow.

Blessed are You
for leaves that twist back and forth on repeat
like my leg when I’m sitting in church;
for dogs that wiggle joy from end to end
like I do when hubby—still cold from outside—
picks me up in a tight squeeze;
for pond ripples that ceaselessly distort
the surface of the water,
like my anxiety, insisting I cannot be still.

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe,
for giving me a body to invite my insides out,
to hug and kiss, tap and wiggle,
jump and shiver,
curl into fetal position, or sprawl in sunshine—
movement that both affirms and releases
my inner world.

Blessed Bodies

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Blessed Bodies

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for human love,
made in the image of divine love,
inviting us to receive ourselves
as we are received into the arms of another.

Blessed are You
for warm hugs,
eyes that see a hurting heart,
not looking away,
but wrapping with compassion
the raw insides,
too much to hold alone.

Blessed are You,
Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
for interlaced fingers,
a shoulder soaking up tears,
and the surprise of surplus:
freely you have received, freely give.