Embodiment of Acceptance

The heat of hands.
The strength of arms.
The support of legs.
The love of hearts.
Matchless in a moment of need for the soul.
--Susan on March 9, 2008

Another trip to my class in Gainesville helps inform my writing here on “the blog”. And, like with the previous entry, my message here is direct and simple. I am blessed to be part of a group of people who are bringing a new way of being into the world. And I felt their divinity this past weekend with a “laying on of hands”, if you will. I am not going to go into the full details of this experience except to say that the touch I received from my classmates communicated a love and acceptance of me as I am, as I was, and will be into the future.

This past weekend also saw the graduation of a new class of future massage therapists from the Florida School of Massage. And I was reminded, again, of our special calling when Paul Davenport, the school’s owner and director, “ordained” the class into the priesthood of the Phalanges! It’s Paul in his playful silliness, but he is correct. The profession of massage therapy is a ministry, and its “priests” are people who offer the non-verbal, non-violent communication of well-intentioned touch. Through fingers, knuckles, elbows and intuition, a massage therapist speaks to the soul of the person. And the message quite often is one of acceptance and love…with no strings attached, and no pre-requisites required. When the body is able to receive such kindness, it delivers the communiqué to the soul, and a person is gifted with light where darkness may reside. Change occurs. Clouds are lifted, and the client leaving the office is brighter than the person who came in an hour or so earlier.

One of my FSM classmates insisted that we put on our class T-shirt the following phrase:
“Massage is from Heaven and we are angels on Earth.” Amen.