Spiritual Body Awareness

10 July 2019ArticleAbby Smith

I’ve been thinking recently about what my body can tell me, and the power that can come with paying attention to it.

Since having kids, I’ve been on a journey of working to understand how to help them understand their own bodies and their experience of having a body. One of the things I didn’t know was the many ways that our feelings affect our bodies. And in that way, I realise that I have been very out of touch with my body for my whole life. I didn’t have a developed sense of body awareness, and I didn’t have a wide vocabulary for describing my physical experiences. I’ve been learning as I work to understand these things for my kids as to the power just having the correct words can bring.

As I’ve learned to identify muscles and physical experiences more accurately I’ve been able to understand what is happening inside my body. For example, you can pay attention to how to engage your stomach muscles when you’ve had it all explained carefully in terms of how to feel those different muscles and how to get them to engage.

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What does He say about Children in the Womb?

3 July 2019Quotes and ReflectionsEden Lumsden

Hello Readers. We are gathering passages that reference children in the womb and/or their development. This collection (and subsequent ones on other topics) will then be made available in a new page of our blog: ‘What does He say about…’ If you would like to contribute to this list, please post a passage in the comment section below.

A few points to remember: (1)We know there are so many beautiful interconnecting Truths in the Word and Heavenly Doctrines, but for the purpose of this project, we are trying to gather passages that clearly and directly refer to this subject. (2)We are looking for passages–not analysis or application. (3)Please remember to reference!

Arcana Coelestia 5052: “The angels who are in the inmost heaven are the wisest of all, and from their innocence they appear to others as infants, for they love infants much more than do their fathers and mothers. They are present with infants in the womb, and through them the Lord cares for the feeding and full development of the infants therein; thus they have charge over those who are with child.”

Exodus 21: 22-25: “If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman’s husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.”

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Pick A Little Talk A Little

26 June 2019Article, UncategorizedTaryn Frazier

Our local pool opened this month—the literal and metaphorical watering hole of the neighborhood. Moms gather to apply sunscreen to their tribes, hover over young swimmers, and chat. Mostly we stick to small talk. Sometimes we get into deeper topics like education or marriage. And sometimes we stray into gossip.

“I heard Mark’s wife just up and left.”

“Did you see Claire’s new haircut?”

“Ashley is having another baby, bless her heart.”

Are we supposed to feel sorry for Mark, or are we questioning his qualities as a husband? The remark about Claire’s new look could imply admiration, or it could be veiled criticism of her taste. And while I hope we’re meant to be happy for Ashley, the comment might mean she’s out of her depth and going deeper. Bless her heart.

I don’t often gossip, but when I do, I have a lot of fun doing it. Fortunately I know that fun does not always equal good. We can experience good delights and bad delights—a profound idea of the New Christianity.

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Happy New Church Day!

19 June 2019Quotes and ReflectionsAdmin

“After the completion of this book, the Lord called together His twelve disciples, who had followed Him in the world; and a day later He sent them all forth throughout the spiritual world to preach the Gospel, that the Lord God Jesus Christ is king, and His kingdom shall be for ever and ever, as foretold by Daniel (Daniel 7:13-14) and in Revelation (Revelation 11:15):

Blessed are they who come to the wedding supper of the Lamb, Revelation 19:9.

This happened on the nineteenth of June in the year 1770. This was meant by the Lord’s saying:

He will send his angels, and they will gather together His chosen people from the bounds of the heavens on one side as far as the bounds of the heavens on the other, Matthew 24:31. ”

~True Christian Religion 791