welcome to this short poetic essay series on SOMA

SOMA (n.) is defined as the parts of the body as distinct from the soul, mind, or psyche.

in this series we will explore the body:
how we speak to our bodies,
how we treat our bodies,
how we see our bodies, and
how we use our bodies

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in the third part of this series, ‘how we see our bodies’
i speak to the divisions of our spiritual and physical bodies

how we see ourselves is an extension of how we seek
we see what we seek, we unseen what we do not seek

we try to prevent others from seeing what causes us shame
we hide, we cover, we disguise, we conceal

how we see our bodies is a combination
of external physicalities and internal realities

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there is something in me that lives
d i v i d e d
in resistance and opposition of:

heart and mind
spirit and flesh
life and death
inner and outer
light and dark
courage and fear
beauty and brokenness
desire and discipline
strength and weakness
pain and pleasure

i live imprisoned
to my divisions

forever seeking
to balance
emotions and logic
truth and lie
good and evil
yesterday and today
today and tomorrow

my body exists
in this liminal space
of seen and unseen:

sometimes
the signs are seen:
the body ageing, frailty

other times
the signs are felt:
the body aching, yearning

yet many a time
i cannot see or feel
i cannot fathom
how my body embodies
spiritual realities

a temple of light
a carrier of truth
a bearer of image
a breath of life
a jar of clay

my body points me
to these mysteries
of intimacy
and eternity
and the spirit in me
sows the seed

there is transformation, renewal, redemption:
the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting

in the body we carry
the death of Jesus
that we may also carry
the life of Jesus

resurrection power
stirs within
living waters
satisfy the soul

the thirst
the weakness
the bodily limitations

i see in myself
a mirror
of my earthly body

but when i look
in the mirror
of my maker
i see his life

only by his life
will our bodies rise

only by his life
will our earthly bodies
be transformed
into heavenly bodies

only by his death
can we receive
this sight
this life

this new vision
of our bodies

this new vision
of reality

we are made
from dust to dust

we are made
from dust
that we may rise
from the dust

the spirit
breathing life
into dry bones
into dry earth
into dry souls

the spirit
filling all things
with himself

the spirit
filling this body
of mine

the spirit
transforming
this body of mine
into a temple
of light

a dwelling place
of the holy spirit

a dwelling place
of holiness
whole-enough-ness

all my broken pieces
bound together
in love and grace
in power and strength

the spirit
renewing

the spirit
reviving

my body
obedient

just as Jesus
was obedient

to the point
of death

i will be obedient
in putting to death
all that is in me
that doesn’t produce life

all that is in me
that doesn’t reveal
the glory

of the one who sees
beyond the body

into eternity

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“There is something in me that puts on fig leaves of concealment, kills my brother, builds towers of confusion, and brings cosmic chaos upon the earth. There is something in me that loves darkness rather than light, that rejects God and thereby rejects my own deepest reality as a human person made in the image and likeness of God” – Chuck DeGroat on Wholeheartedness