DAILY DEVOT IONAL 9
Alison VanBuskirk Philip
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. - Ezekiel 36:26
The apostle Paul describes flesh and spirit as opposites in his letters. But here in Ezekiel, the opposite of flesh is stone, not spirit. God wants to replace our heart of stone with a heart of flesh. God wants to soften and heal what fear and pain have turned to stone. Instead of being hard and impenetrable like stone, a heart of flesh is tender and accessible. Instead of being firm or frozen like stone, a heart of flesh is flowing and flexible.
These links and contrasts say something powerful about healing. Modern neuroscience is learning just how much the body and brain are interconnected via the nervous system. We store negative experiences and trauma in our bodies. That means healing happens not outside of our bodies, not by avoiding or overcoming them, and not just through intellectual understanding, but healing happens in and through our bodies, our flesh.
This emerging science is deeply synchronistic with Christian theology. The incarnation reveals that God cares about the body. Jesus put on flesh to show us who God is, which is not impenetrable and detached but accessible, tender, and engaged with the world. Jesus entered into all the joy and suffering of being human in a body. He cared for others, body and spirit. Post-resurrection, Jesus appeared again as a body that bore scars, walked alongside others, and shared bread and fish. God brings healing to humanity through God’s own embodiment.
And so we are free to inhabit our bodies as locations of God’s presence and healing. Body and spirit are connected. One element of embodied spiritual healing is our breathing. The word for breath in the biblical languages is the same as the word for spirit. Breath is flowing and flexible. It calms our nervous systems, slows our heart rates, and tells our brains that we are safe.
Breathing in, we welcome God’s Spirit.
Breathing out, we release what we are holding.
Breathing in, we receive new life from God.
Breathing out, God moves us into relationship, into action.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION:
• When is a time that you experienced God renewing your heart or spirit?
• How does or might the incarnation shape your relationship to your body?
• What is a connection for you between breath and prayer?
PRAYER:
Lord of Life, as we breathe in, fill our hearts with your loving presence. As we breathe out, help us release what blocks our healing. May we experience your Spirit in and through our embodied lives, in the name of Jesus who embodied you. Amen.
HYMNS, SONGS, OR ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Breathe on Me, Breath of God (United Methodist Hymnal #420)