thesoulpurposedotorg

I memorized this verse when I was about 12 years old and it has been a guiding principle in my life all these years. At times, this verse has been a corrective to destructive eating behaviors. At other times it has been a motivation to exercise and to dress well. At all times it has been the “how-to” of remembering that my body is a temple of the holy spirit.

I Corinthians 6:19 “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. “

A little over six years ago, my body became racked with pain and anxiety. I could not control much of anything – my weight, my ability to walk much less exercise, or to put my thoughts into words. Somedays I couldn’t even hold a book. My heart beat became erratic as a reaction to the pain. Even now, there are days this is my reality. Where once I could simply close my eyes and take a few deep breaths, easing into a state of meditaion and practicing the presence of God, suddenly, I could not.

At that time, I was introduced to chanting. At first, I listened to Gregorian chant but it became too busy with sound for my nervous system. Then I spoke the Jesus Prayer “Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me a sinner” but even that caused my mind to wander to my own errors and to focus on my failures rather than on Christ. About this time, I was introduced to Jerry Thomas who sent me a CD with the Jesus prayer in latin “Om Jesu Christi” and it transformed by ability to be in God’s presence.

Since that time, I have been blessed by several Sanskrit chants, most importantly the Gayatri Mantra. What began as an occassional spiritual practice has become a daily longing and joyous hour or two of meditation. I have begun to experience the presence of the Holy Spirit as actual Presence in my body. I experience this holy energy and purification of self and this old verse comes back to me. And I know that this is what it means to present my body as a living sacrifice and I know, truly know, perhaps even within the very cells of this body, “what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

I haven’t been writing much on this website. The knowledge that I am abiding in doesn’t always have words. The words without the experience could be confusing. Please let me know if what I write is helpful to you in anyway. Or if you have specific spiritual longings or questions for which you would like my prayers and perhaps what wisdom I might be given. My present life is a life of devotion to Christ through prayer and meditation. My understanding of Christ is far beyond what I learned in seminary or what is taught in the churches of institutional Christianity. But my beloved One is the One who was, who is and always will be the light of all creation.