Out of pride, I have avoided sharing this pencil drawing for a long time but alas- here it is. Can we talk for a second? Oh, what have we done to the beautiful biological complexity that we call our bodies? Our bodies are a blessed gift. For with our bodies, we are capable of fighting disease without conscious effort; with them we subconsciously maintain a perfect internal temperature; with these blessed lungs we sift in and out the gases we need from the atmosphere in which we live. All of these things our bodies perform without our conscious command, so that we may focus our conscious attention on the things we have been called to do in this life. In our culture we have taken the gift of a healthy body and we have said to its complex perfection: "You are not good enough!" We have made a statement of rejection to the creator of all good things, who designed our bodies with such unfathomable detail. We say our bodies do not meet the temporary standard this cultural era has set - so we live in the gym, or refuse the food that has been so undeservingly and readily available to us. Our faces are not good enough - so we wake up each morning and paint on one 'more worthy.' I believe we all have experienced these thoughts, though perhaps in different manifestations. I especially, have been broken in this regard.
If our purpose in life was to focus on our bodies - then our God would not have designed these lungs, digestive, circulatory and nervous systems to be autonomous- without conscious thought! If we were made to live for our bodies, then we would not have been so intentionally designed with the ability to focus on living for so much more. So let us behave as such! This is not a #bodypositivity post. But a gentle and loving reminder, for myself included, of our worth and our purpose. To think twice about what motivates us to look a certain way. Let us stop making a statement to our creator that our God's works are not good enough. Let the unconscious take care of what is autonomous, and let the conscious mind focus on what we were made for - to wake up each new day and decide to love others with the same undying love that our God shows each of us. To act on the good passions God has instilled in each of our hearts, and to bring LIGHT and LOVE into our broken world.
If our purpose in life was to focus on our bodies - then our God would not have designed these lungs, digestive, circulatory and nervous systems to be autonomous- without conscious thought! If we were made to live for our bodies, then we would not have been so intentionally designed with the ability to focus on living for so much more. So let us behave as such! This is not a #bodypositivity post. But a gentle and loving reminder, for myself included, of our worth and our purpose. To think twice about what motivates us to look a certain way. Let us stop making a statement to our creator that our God's works are not good enough. Let the unconscious take care of what is autonomous, and let the conscious mind focus on what we were made for - to wake up each new day and decide to love others with the same undying love that our God shows each of us. To act on the good passions God has instilled in each of our hearts, and to bring LIGHT and LOVE into our broken world.
"The Focus I"
Medium: Graphic pencil and charcoal
"The Focus II"
Medium: Graphic pencil and charcoal
"The Focus II"
Medium: Graphic pencil and charcoal
