You can find the audio for this podcast on Spotify
Your Body Is Your Own
Your body is yours, and no one else’s.
I don’t know about you, but the longer I am away from evangelicalism, the more it strikes me how much freedom I have in my own body. To choose what to wear, to choose who I’m allowed to date or marry and what my physical boundaries would be with them.
No one is allowed to tell me that I am not allowed to make these choices. My body and my life are mine to do with as I choose. The same is true for you. Your body belongs to you, and you are the only authority over your body.
Yes, you will have people who tell you that your choices are sinful or aren’t glorifying to God. You will hear accusations of backsliding. But that’s okay. Let them talk. All they know is what their churches have told them: that they do not have authority over their own bodies. They must follow the rules to be considered holy, and that is what they are projecting on to you.
But that is no longer your life. You have freedom now that you didn’t have before.
Wear that short dress. Wear that revealing top.
Let others think whatever thoughts about your body without assuming responsibility for causing them to stumble.
Go on that date with the girl you were told was off limits to you. Kiss your partner, even if you’re not married. And if you two want to go further than that? It’s no one’s business but yours.
No God or HIgher Power is trying to micro-manage your body.
Meditation
Each episode will contain a moment of meditation. For some people this is helpful to center their minds and ground their bodies and to internalize messages. For others, meditation can be a challenge or even triggering. Wherever you find yourself, please remember to listen to your body.
Here we go.
Take a moment to settle your body and find a comfortable position
Place your hand on your belly and focus on your breathing for a few moments. Notice how the air feels when you breathe in and as it travels down your throat and into your lungs. Notice the rise and fall of your belly with each breath.
Stay here for a few breaths.
Breathe in: My body is my own
Breathe out: I am free
Breathe in: My body is my own
Breathe out: I am free
Continue to breathe in this way for another minute
When you are ready, open your eyes and come back to the room.
Musical Affirmation
To close out each episode, I want to play a song for you all that I feel encapsulates the message of the episode. If you are a spotify member, you should hear the full clip. If you aren’t yet a member, you’ll only hear a 30 second clip, but I would encourage you to go find this song wherever you get your music.
For today’s musical Affirmation, I chose the song, “Follow Your Arrow” by Kacey Musgraves.
So I am not usually drawn to this country/folksy kind of music. Usually it runs me the wrong way. I don’t know why, it just does – and no judgment to anyone who loves it! It’s just not for me.
Usually.
When I first heard this song, it touched me in a different way. The message is one of true personal freedom, which I loved.
The song starts out addressing sexual ethics in it’s very first verse:
“If you save yourself for marriage, you’re a bore
If you don’t save yourself for marriage, you’re a horrible person.”
I love the little playfulness of the lyrics. If you go and listen to the full song, she uses the word horrible as a double entendre in a way that doesn’t come across when you simply recite the lyrics.
But she makes a powerful point that it doesn’t matter if you live by the convictions of a church community or by the ethics of another community. Others will always have thoughts about the clothes you wear, the relationships you choose, and how you show up in those relationships.
So in the end, if we want to find real freedom, we have to stop chasing the approval of others. And that includes the approval of our religious communities and spiritual leaders. God made you to be your own unique person, and no one else can tell you what that should look like.
So follow your arrow, wherever it points.
I hope you enjoy this song.
Conclusion
Thank you so much for being here today. Take care of yourself in the coming days, and I’ll see you back here again next week.
Shari A Smith 