Villagersonline : blogs : Boojeee : beauty

From: Boojeee
Date: Thu May 25 06:03:57 MST 2006
Subject: beauty

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Boojeee: heart of the village or where hedge61 came from... (5/25/06)

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Boojeee: heart of the village or where hedge61 came from... (5/25/06)

I was looking at old pictures the other day and realizing some things about beauty. You see, from when I was young and abused, I learned to disconnect from my body. I have found this experience to be common and sometimes severe among those who have been abused [psychologists would call it disassociative disorder, I think] and present to varying degrees in many of those who have not. When I look at my pictures from childhood, I can see when the abuse started. I began to have a vacant look. As a child, this behavior allowed me to survive; as I have grown up, it has become an impediment to really living that I have had to consciously move away from.
So what does all this have to do with beauty? Well, I guess I was realizing how ministering to my friends who have been abused has really shaped my experience of beauty. Our culture [and I would argue Satan] wants to say that beauty is present [or to most of our minds absent] in our physical form. However, as I look at myself and others move from disconnectedness to living in our bodies, I say that beauty emanates from our living into ourselves. When I saw my grandmother’s dead body at her funeral, I was struck by the absence of her. She wasn’t there. The body didn’t even look like her in a lot of ways. That’s what I see happening as I walk the healing path and invite others along: people [mostly women, I my personal experience] moving from an empty shell that honestly reveals little beauty, to animated, connected women whose beauty is stunningly reflective of who God is. The joy that I get to experience as one who invites women onto this path is that I sometimes get to see women come into their beauty for the first time. Often this is full of tears and grieving, but it brings hope for new life and the deeper presence of joy. Our community is full of women coming into this beauty; look around and enjoy and affirm what you see.

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From: Boojeee
Date: Thu May 25 06:49:49 MST 2006
Subject: heart of the village or where hedge61 came from...

I was journaling a bit after blogging and liked the connection of beauty out of mourning. We talked about this passage/prophesy last night at "that thing with Eric" because it seemed related to Jesus' response to John the Baptist in Matthew 11 where he asks if Jesus is "the one." Seems to be at the heart of the kingdom of God coming to us an us brining the kingdom of God to the world and each other as ministers of reconciliation [2Cor 5:11-21, our other favorite verse].
Isaiah 61
1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.
4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.
5 Aliens will shepherd your flocks;
foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.
6 And you will be called priests of the LORD,
you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
and in their riches you will boast.
7 Instead of their shame
my people will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace
they will rejoice in their inheritance;
and so they will inherit a double portion in their land,
and everlasting joy will be theirs.
8 "For I, the LORD, love justice;
I hate robbery and iniquity.
In my faithfulness I will reward them
and make an everlasting covenant with them.
9 Their descendants will be known among the nations
and their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will acknowledge
that they are a people the LORD has blessed."
10 I delight greatly in the LORD;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up
and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise
spring up before all nations.

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