My Body is my Church
temple, animal, sacred home for now
In high school I had two close friends whose families were Mormon, one named Scott and another named Holly. They were both upbeat, athletic and glowing with sunshine in their smiles, words and actions.
With these friends, it didn’t seem to matter that I wasn’t Mormon. I went to church with them once or twice to see what it was like. It was pleasant, yet I wasn’t tempted to join their church since ten years earlier, I had left the Christian church to declare Love as my religion. Rather than staying on the path of Christianity my own family presented, I related more to the Christ Light that is not exclusive to any one religion but rather, universally revered.
My close relationship with Christ clearly conveyed that there was no ‘one right way’ — that Love was the ultimate “guiding Light” and that it expressed itself in diverse spiritual and religious pathways. This remains true today; I simply can’t fathom how divinity would ever say that some people are right in their quest to know God, and some are not. It doesn’t make sense.
Unquestionably and as clear as ever, Love is still my religion.
These days, occasionally I go to a building called church, a place where people gather in a sacred assembly of humans committed to serving divinity. This particular church is a pleasant walk from my apartment and I like it because it celebrates each person's freedom to experience God, Source, Spirit in our own authentic way.
It’s like maple trees and redwoods, sitting in a sunlit meadow singing, all appreciating each other’s unique hues and voices.
We’re all trees. Aren’t we lovely?
What I’ve discovered in the last three years since my near death experience (NDE), is that the greatest freedom and divine joy possible reside in my own precious living body. My best behavior and inner Light aren’t made to shine brightest in one specific building on Sunday morning and then take a back seat to my ‘normal’ self the rest of the week. I take church everywhere I go.
My body is my church. It is a temple that breathes wisdom my mental brain does not have access to.
It is where my heart lives, home to the tears I shed and the compassion I feel, for a friend whose son just died. It is where my hands give, opening doors for an elderly couple as they leave the cafe. By taking church with me, I hold myself accountable to co-create a more loving world in as many moments as possible, not just on Sundays in a building with a steeple on top.
Do you take church everywhere you go? Your body is a temple. Do you see it that way yet? Your breath is sacred. You matter.
I take church everywhere I go, because my body is always with me.
What I mean is that I carry the intention to embody divine Light, kindness, acceptance, and divine grace everywhere I go. No, I’m not always impeccably loving with my thoughts or actions, but I’m never off-the-hook, as in, Oh, I can act like a jerk because after I do, I can just go pray for forgiveness. Someone else can give me a stamp of approval, so I can feel lovable again.
It feels crappy to be unloving and it feels great to be the presence of Love. I value myself and I am grateful to be alive; why would I sell myself short?
I live and will die a dreamer. Imagine a world where we all consider our bodies our own sacred temples, using our inhales and exhales to bring more Light into this world that so deeply longs for it.
My body is my church, and I am always at church. Freedom lives here.
While we’re at it, moving through our days as temples that breathe, let’s take a dive together! The process I created to support women to move through rigorous challenges — like disease, divorce and despair — is ready to hold you as you start your new year. And I extended the huge discount for one more week! Find details here.
Big Love,
Jess
Less than three months to go ‘til my one-woman-show! Come celebrate International Women’s Day with me on my 50th birthday. Tickets available here.
a theatrical performance with words, dance, song & imagery
on how pain
turns to medicine
through Love
All three acts highlight how Love heals
the greatest human dis-ease —
the myth that we are separate
from each other, nature and God —
and the communion we are all dying for.
More Love, less addiction.
More Love, less depression.
More Love, less victimhood.
More Love, less isolation, loneliness
and transfer of trauma
from parents to their children.
More love, less war.
More Love, less rape, suicide and
pharmaceutical dependency.
Beautiful! "a building called church" Love that.