My Reflections: MIA

Over the weekend I told Kari that I felt like my blog posts were getting mundane - more of a recap of my life without any kind of reflection on it.  As soon as I said that to her the thought crossed my mind that maybe this in and of itself is a reflection on the way my life has been lately.  I've been so busy and trying to keep all of the pieces of my life organized that I really haven't had a lot of time to reflect on anything lately.

I decided to press the pause button on my life this morning and go to the spa.  Bruce surprised me with a gift certificate for a massage on my birthday and I hadn't had a chance to cash in on it - and after a face-numbing headache wiped out my entire day last Wednesday, I started to think that I needed to force myself to cash in on it - otherwise I may never do it.  I called and made an appointment yesterday and showed up at the spa promptly at 10 a.m. this morning.

I don't know how many of you have had massages, but they're pretty incredible.  Not only what they do for your body, but also what they do for your mind.  You're pretty much forced to sit still for a certain period of time and breath as someone grinds out the knots that have been growing in your muscles.  But all of this happens in such a relaxing way.

At first you're not really sure what to do, what to think about.  Should you talk to your massage therapist?  What do you think they're thinking about?  Should you keep your eyes open or closed?  These were all the thoughts that were going through my head.  By then my massage therapist hit a nerve - literally.  She cracked a knot in a muscle in my shoulder that sent tingling movement down my arms.  Then I felt it in my head, then down my legs.  It's amazing how connected our bodies are.  What happens in one part of your body really does affect what happens in another.

As I laid on the massage table feeling the affects of my spine down my fingers, I started to think about the Body of Christ.  I've been using that metaphor a lot lately in talking not only about ecumenism, but also in talking about church hierarchy and pastoral authority.  In talking about church hierarchy and pastoral authority, I remind people that all parts of the Body of Christ are crucial for a thriving Christian church - if you think about your body even something as seemingly small as a hangnail can make it difficult for a person to complete simple tasks.  But let's think about the Body of Christ in terms of my massage - I could literally FEEL the effects of a knot being broken up in my upper back down my arms and legs.  That's incredible.  Such is the case in the Body of Christ - you can feel the effects of one part in another.  When one hurts, we all hurt.  When one rejoices, we all rejoice.  We are all connected to one another throughout our beliefs and convictions.

The music that they played in this spa was incredible.  At first it was kind of celtic and eventually became the sounds of an ocean.  But I honestly couldn't tell you when the change happened.  I was really overcome by the power that exists in me - through others.

All this AND my muscles are loosened up.  Incredible.

It's a shame that I had to go to work afterwards.  But I walked in with a new attitude - and any time I started to get frustrated, I thought about my state of relaxation.  And something must have worked - after work I got home and managed to get through next week's Con. Ed. assignment.

Today I learned the importance of hitting the pause button on life in order to reflect on what's going on around you.  Otherwise - where's the meaning in life?