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Earth Day

Today I discovered my friend Mike is a prolific blogger. (Because I'm dealing with a bunch of issues re: platonic relationships with men [that's a different post entirely] I'm proud of myself for calling Mike my friend.) Not only is Mike a champion blogger, he's father of two, primary breadwinner, marathon runner, vocalist and guitarist for local band Lunar Light Collectors---hell, I don't know him all that well so there's probably a million other things he does too.

I learned from reading his blog today that Mike was diagnosed with MS a little over a month ago. I sent him a lame comment, promised to pray for him, then went for a mile long bike ride. Because you don't just process that kind of information with your brain, you process it with you heart and your body, too.

It's Earth Day. I didn't do much to honor the earth today, other than take my travel mug to Starbucks for a free fill up and wear a skirt I made from three different salvaged t-shirts. While biking and thinking about Mike's diagnosis, I drew a parallel between the earth and the body. When our church service follows Holy Eucharist Rite II, Eucharistic Prayer C, we recognize "At your command all things came to be: the vast expanse of interstellar space, galaxies, suns, the planets in their courses, and this fragile earth, our island home." Extrapolate: this fragile body, my soul's home.

I thought about honoring my body, how I vilify rather then glorify this vessel God gave me for my use on this earth. How I compare this body to other bodies and find it lacking. This is what my body did for me this week: lifted countless children, swam, scaled a climbing wall, propelled a bicycle, carried me with confidence, strength, and quiet grace through each day.

Mine is a body deserving of my gratitude. So is Mike's. I hope he knows that.

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