The Body House

LORD, I love the house in which you dwell
and the place where your glory abides.
--Psalm 26:8

I don't know that my massage practice informs my spiritual life, but my spiritual life does a lot to inform my massage practice. I was reminded of that today.

The verse from Psalm 26 jumped out at me as I went over the readings assigned for today in the Daily Office. Because I had a morning client, I did the Office at my office. When I hit that verse, I took a moment to consider "the house". One way to see this is the house as in a building... the tabernacle... where God dwells. However, as I sat with the Psalm this morning, I thought of "the Christ within". The house, in this instance, is the body... where God's glory abides. Too often, I think it's easy to forget that our bodies need attention and love. They are the exterior house of our interior soul. To love the body, in my opinion, is not a negation of the soul but a means of keeping the house of the soul in order and open to receive all that is God through the senses.

With that thought in my head, I greeted my client, had her fill out the necessary paperwork, and did the session with a further appreciation of the work. Caring for the bodies of my clients is a way of tending to the house where "glory abides". It's a special kind of work, and one that is as rewarding to give as it is to receive.

I'm reminded of the Collect for this week:

O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who
call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand
what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and
power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ
our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Amen to that!