New Year's Eve Confession and How I'm a Yurodivy

My confession is I am incredibly discouraged and I hate writing this blog.  Did you know that?  I've been working on Your Body as Sacred Part II for two months.  I can't seem to get it out.  Why? Because, I. hate. this. blog.  Why?  It's depressing that there is even a need for it.  It's very depressing to me that most people view themselves as just highly evolved animals and sex as a mere recreational activity, that most people are entirely numb to the vast spiritual affects it is supposed to have.  I hate that I feel compelled to try and speak up against that.  I blame God for that.  It is surely His fault that I can't just stick my head in the sand and not think about it.  I hate how terribly un-cool and foolish I look to the world.  I'm not one of those haughty Christians who apparently don't give the slightest damn what people think of them.  I'm not immune to harsh and hurtful words.  Maybe I'm stupid, but I'm not so stupid that the world's judgement just rolls off me like water off a duck's back.   I was watching a segment of Dr. Drew's show and he called a woman pursuing purity "sexually anorexic" (source here).  That really sums up the predominant attitude I come in contact with.  I am frequently taunted and heckled by peers and even members of my family.  I had a guy break up with me because I wouldn't "at least" give him a hand job.  My mother has told me she doesn't think men are "built for monogamy".  My brother has told me I'm "messed up".  My father told me it was my fault my very first relationship ended because I was "torturing the poor kid" by not giving him sex.  People closest to me with the greatest capacity to hurt me have tried to convince me that sex is "just physical" and that I have got it "wrong" and that my understanding that sex is sacred is a DELUSION.    I'm not immune.  Don't worry, I feel those blows as keenly as if I had bruises blossoming over my heart and gut and across my face.  Really, I often just feel beaten up.  I get it.  I'm stupid.   I understand.  Therefore, very often, I just plain hate sex and I hate myself for being so stupid, for trying to hang on to a "delusion" for over a decade that seemingly does nothing for me except open me up to all sorts of hurt.  A delusion that I'm not even sure is even possible to have fully realized on this earth.  A delusion that I'm not even that great at upholding!  I'm no example of perfect purity.  Maybe thats the most discouraging.  Not only am I stupid but I'm not even that great at being stupid.  I am a fool.

I was laying in bed last night until about 3am just thinking about how stupid I am and to comfort myself I pulled out my iPhone to google for a Bible verse I knew of but couldn't recall verbatim:

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.  For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
    the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?  For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.  Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,  but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.  For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.  But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.  God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are,  so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.  Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

I'd like to tell you about the term "yurodivy".  It is a word that the Russian orthodox church uses to describe a "holy fool".  A person described as a yurodivy is believed to have special enlightenment, a divine understanding, but their actions make them foolish to the world.  The term is specifically used to describe several "saints" in the Russian orthodox church but over the years the word has carved out its own place in Russian culture.  I like this word. It's quite interesting really; check out the links at the end of this blog entry.  I am currently reading Kisses from Katie about a college-aged woman who ended up moving to Uganda, adopting 14 orphaned girls and beginning the Amazima ministry. See here.  I was telling my brother about her; he said it sounded like she "had a couple screws loose."  See? Yurodivy.

So I have this little blog, and I stand on this little soap box even when I don't feel like it (which is most of the time).  I'll stand here and boast in the Lord about my favorite "should be"  even if I never see it make a difference.  Even if I never see the delusion realized or feel respected and cherished as I think I should be.  Even if my attempts to honor others are rebuffed and derided.  I will stand here and boast in the Lord and take the blows as they come.  I will wear the label of a yurodivy as Christ wore "King of the Jews".  I'm a yurodivy in many more ways that just pursuing purity or being "sexually anorexic" as Dr. Drew would say.  Yes, I'm quite a fool.  To think that life is so precious and that Christ's love is more powerful than any and all evil.  To try to follow His commandments.  That I should make myself the least of these and spend my life serving.  But I love Him, and He says if I love Him than I will follow His words.  So I try.

To return to my "beaten up" analogy.  I very often picture myself that way.  Maybe I enjoy too many fantasy epics like Lord of the Rings, but I can see myself, battered, broken, bruised and bleeding. My clothing filthy, tattered and my armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18) rusted and long past usefulness.  I can see myself falling to my knees at the feet of Christ, utterly spent.  Maybe begging, "I tried, really I tried, I tried."  Maybe saying nothing and just sobbing bitter tears that make streaks down my dirty face.  Full of my own regret for doing so little and falling so short.  Then, He puts His glorious hand under my worthless chin and makes me look at Him, and I'll hear those words every Christian hopes they hear upon their death.

"Well done, good and faithful servant."

And I won't mind that I was so stupid.

So, Christian readers, my hope for you is that you have a very foolish 2014 and you stand firm in all your hope and conviction no matter how stupid the world makes you feel.

Everyone else, Happy New Year, live long and prosper.

Yurodivy links:

http://saintpaulsunday.publicradio.org/features/0004_shostakovich/holyfool.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yurodivy#Eastern_Christianity

http://www.shepherdsguild.org/id60.html

I saw the devil wrapping up his hands...

The Dustland Fairytale beginning
With just another white trash county kiss in '61.
Long brown hair, and foolish eyes.
He'd look just like you'd want him to
Some kind of slick chrome American prince.

Blue Jean serenade
Moon River what'd you do to me
I don't believe you.

Saw Cinderella in a party dress, but she was looking for a nightgown.
I saw the devil wrapping up his hands, he's getting ready for the showdown.
I saw the minute that I turned away, I got my money on a pawn tonight.

Change came in disguise of revelation, set his soul on fire.
She said she always knew he'd come around.
And the decades disappear
Like sinking ships but we persevere.
God gives us hope but we still fear what we don't know.

Your mind is poisoned.
Castles in the sky sit stranded, vandalized.
The drawbridge is closing.

Saw Cinderella in a party dress, but she was looking for a nightgown.
I saw the devil wrapping up his hands, he's getting ready for the showdown.
I saw the ending when they turned the page, I threw my money and I ran away.
Sent to the valley of the great divide
Out where the dreams all hide.
Out where the wind don't blow,
Out here the good girls die.
And the sky won't snow
Out here the bird don't sing
Out here the field don't grow
Out here the bell don't ring
Out hear the bell don't ring
Out here the good girls die
Now Cinderella don't you go to sleep, it's such a bitter form of refuge.
Why don't you know the kingdom is under siege and everybody needs you.
Is there still magic in the midnight sun, or did you leave it back in '61?
In the cadence of a young man's eyes.
Out where the dreams all hide

- The Killer's "A Dustland Fairytale"

*Video link here.

Psalm 40

I waited patiently for the Lord;
    he turned to me and heard my prayer.

He drew me up from the pit,
    out of the mud and mire,
and set my feet upon a rock,
    making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth,
    a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and hear,
    and put their trust in the Lord.

 Blessed is the man who makes
    the Lord his trust,
who does not turn to the proud,
    to those who go astray after a lie!
 Many, O Lord my God, are
    your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
    none can compare with you!
I will proclaim and tell of them,
    yet they are more than can be told.

 In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,
    but you have given me an open ear.
Burnt offering and sin offering
    you have not required.
 Then I said, “Behold, I have come;
    in the scroll of the book it is written of me:
 I delight to do your will, O my God;
    your law is within my heart.”

 I have told the glad news of deliverance
    in the great congregation;
behold, I have not restrained my lips,
    as you know, O Lord.
 I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;
    I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
    from the great congregation.

 As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain
    your mercy from me;
your steadfast love and your faithfulness will
    ever preserve me!
 For evils have encompassed me
    beyond number;
my iniquities have overtaken me,
    and I cannot see;
they are more than the hairs of my head;
    my heart fails me.

 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me!
    O Lord, make haste to help me!
 Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether
    who seek to snatch away my heart;
let those be turned back and brought to dishonor
    who delight in my hurt!
 Let those be appalled because of their shame
    who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”

 But may all who seek you
    rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation
    say continually, “Great is the Lord!”
 As for me, I am poor and in need,
    but the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
    do not delay, O my God!

Some days I really don't enjoy myself at all.

The 40 Year Old Virgin is on tv right now... I was going to watch it again and sit here and despair over this society, but then I found out The Little Mermaid is on too... saved.

Someday, I'll be writing a blog post that includes both of these movies.

Why I Keep Cutting All My Hair Off

For the most part, my posts up until this point haven't been very personal.  This post will be a little bit of a departure, but it goes along with the exploration of the significance/meaning of the human body.  Don't worry, The Body as Sacred Part II will be coming soon (and it won't be as long as part I).

I cut all my hair off about a year ago.  I was vacationing in San Diego, and it was either a piercing, a tattoo, or an extreme haircut.  So, I cut all my hair off.  I've always enjoyed changing my hair.  If life gets chaotic and I need a sense of control, a new cut or a new color does the trick.  However, cropping all my hair off has some additional meaning for me.

It's not an attempt to look like the few stunning celebrities who have made short hair more "in".  I am no Emma Watson.  It has far more to do with my own personal rebellion against the enduring cultural standard for women's beauty.

Despite such pixie-cut actresses as Emma Watson, Anne Hathaway, and (most recently) Jennifer Lawrence, there is still a stigma about short hair.  Remember the media storm over Emma Watson when she cut her hair? All the articles that speculated that she might be a lesbian?  Maybe you weren't reading People magazine at that time.  Here is a recap for you, and here is another reaction from Emma Watson about the stigma.

As with big boobs, men just like long hair.  It is a generalization that has a lot of truth to it.  After I cut my hair, the reaction I got from most men was very derogatory.  I was called "butch" and "peter pan".  I was even told I looked "like a twelve year old boy" and "like a dike".  Most women seemed to like the cut on me, but almost all of them would follow up with the same question.  With wide eyes and a worried expression they would ask,

"What does your boyfriend think?" 

"Men like long hair you know"

Yeah, I know.  Men like women with long hair and big boobs and dirty tricks in the bedroom.  Three strikes, I'm out.  Don't worry, I know.

A few women skipped that question and just asked me outright if I had a bad break up, unable to imagine that a women might cut all her hair off when she was trying to keep a man around.

The fact that there is a "cultural standard" of beauty for women (and for men) is, at times, down right infuriating for me.  I believe in the Roald Dahl standard:

"A person with good thoughts can never be ugly.  You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sun beams and you will always look lovely."

I'm not a fan of procuring a specific taste for physical features or a certain "type" of beauty.  I hate that our culture ascribes no value to our bodies or the intimacy we are capable of, however it has a standard of beauty by which our "worth" is judged and measured according to our physical appearance.  I HATE it.  Not because I personally feel like I'm lacking.  I'll be honest, I love my small breasts.  I think they are sweet.  I love how they look in a ballet leotard, soft rises that don't draw attention away from the lines I make with my arabesques or cambres.  I love that they have been precious to me and that I've endeavored to kept them pure for one man.  It makes no difference to ME that I can't even make it look like I have cleavage no matter how much I squish them together.  I don't wear clothes that could show off cleavage even if I had any.  I'm not playing that game.  I like my breasts.  I like my breasts, but I hate that I live in a culture which tells me they aren't anything special since they are barely more than an A cup.  I hate it even more when I have days that I believe that lie.  I'm not immune to the bombardment of our cultural standard.  Scan the headlines of magazines at the check-out; watch TV for half an hour.  It is undeniable.  Men like big boobs, or as Sofia Vergara puts it:

Thanks, Sofia.  That is a big help.  I appreciate you advocating for the worth of women (not), but you do provide a good segue into my next point.

Our culture encourages us to have a sexual appetite for those who fit the "standard" of beauty.  Our culture tells us that our body isn't sacred.  Your body doesn't mean anything, and it is only as good as the level of sexual arousal it produces in others.  Porn exists entirely on this premise.  Bodies are tools of sexual arousal.  Only profanity unfit for a Christian blog on sex could articulate how I feel about this.

The cultural standard of beauty is a terrible thing, and we are all (some more than others) slaves to it.  Any woman who wanted to try a pixie cut but was afraid she wouldn't be attractive to her man.  Any woman who bought a padded push-up bra because her boobs didn't look like the ones her boyfriend is looking at on the computer.  Any guy who has taken one of the many "male enhancement" drugs because he didn't feel like he was "well endowed" enough.  Any guy who felt like "less of a man" because he doesn't look like a Hollywood actor with a personal trainer and regular steroid injections.  All of us who have looked at ourselves in the mirror and fallen short of the image in our heads of what we "should" look like.  We have all been slaves to this culture's pathetic "standard".  It is down right destructive.

Now that I've ragged on the cultural standard of beauty, I would like to address personal standards of beauty.

This is really a message for my Christian readers.

Guess what.

You aren't supposed to have a "standard" of beauty.

Yeah, you heard me.

Your standard of beauty and sex appeal is supposed to be your spouse.

You are supposed to be with one person, the one person that God has meant for you (if you are destined to be wed).  You don't need to be developing a "taste" for women/men.  How do I know this?

Because the Bible says that the marriage relationship is supposed to be like the relationship between Christ and the Church.  It is THROUGHOUT the Bible, Old Testament and New.  Both are supposed to be perfectly devoted with desire only for each other.  So what are you doing developing preferences for how you "like your men" or how you "like your women"?  Determining what kind of specific physical traits you desire?  Your standard of beauty is supposed to be the person God has set aside for you (should He plan for you to be married at all).

Again, our culture exploits, objectifies, and commercializes our physical appearance so thoroughly that it is perfectly "normal" for all of us to do this as individuals.

Remember guys,

I appeal to you therefore, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:1-2

It might sound really unreasonable to you, that I should suggest that we are not to develop physical or sexual "tastes" but instead attempt to reserve all of our desire for one person.  I'm not saying it isn't hard to do, but this is what God expects us to strive for.  Jesus quoted the foundation of marriage in Genesis when He said that a man and woman were to become one in marriage and never separate.  According to Him, the only other option is to live your life like a eunuch- someone with no genitals, no sexual desire (Matthew 19).  Additionally, Jesus said that lust and sensuality are sins (Matthew 5 and 7).  We are urged to "take every thought captive" (2 Corinthians 10:5)  and to treat each other outside of marriage with "absolute purity" as brothers and sisters (1 Timothy 5:1-2).

To sum this up,

Our physical appearance is NOT supposed to be so important.  Our physical appearance is NOT something that is supposed to be used to judge our worth.  We aren't supposed to objectify each other according to how our sexual desires respond to physical characteristics.

Our bodies are supposed to be sacred.

We should have a deep reverence for each other's bodies regardless of the physical expression of our genes.  We should relate to each other as sisters and brothers, the children of God, with perfect love and purity.  We should reserve, concentrate, and focus ALL of our physical/sexual desire on our husband/wife.  That is what we deserve according to God.  That is what I deserve. That is what you deserve, to be the only object of one person's physical/sexual desire in conjunction with being their only romantic love and soulmate.  For one person, YOU are supposed to be THE standard of beauty.


So I cut off all my hair again, just a couple weeks ago.  I felt like I was competing again, competing with the cultural standard, with women in my life, with women in my head.  So, I took myself out of the game.  I cut off all my hair, and benched myself for the season.  I'm not competing.  So keep those "butch" comments coming. I love them, because nobody on this planet gets to define the worth of my body.  I'm not playing that game.  I refuse to believe the lies this culture tells.  Lies like:

This

means nothing, its just a tool for sexual arousal.

This body

has no inherent value.

This

is not sacred, it's just physical.

Screw that.

Let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in God's sight.

1 Peter 3:4

Do you not know that you are God's temple and that the Holy Spirit dwells in you?  If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him.  For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.

1 Corinthians 3:16-17

For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like those who do not know God.

1 Thessalonians 4:3-5

Your Body as Sacred - Part I: Humanity as the Image of God

Sadly, sex is just something everyone talks about.  As I have said in other blogs,  few see it as anything sacred anymore. Love has been separated from sex, and now it is nothing more than a recreational activity for most. Simply talking about sex as casually as I have to in this blog is a little sad for me. However, everyone talks about it in such a recreational manner so constantly that I don't need to be friends with anyone for very long before they find out I'm not on the promiscuous sex band wagon.

So, I was having a conversation, a while back, with a friend about why I am saving myself for marriage.  Of course, I got the usual argument in return.  After he mentioned some of the heinous practices in extremist backwards Middle Eastern cultures regarding virginity, he talked about why sex shouldn't be that important since it is "just the physical" part of a relationship.  As I insisted it WAS SUPPOSED TO MEAN SO MUCH MORE, he did make one concession:

"Well, sex can bring two people closer together.  What could be more intimate?"  

A definition of "intimate" from Merriam-Webster dictionary: belonging to or characterizing one's deepest nature,  of a very personal or private nature.

While his statement does such a disservice to sex as God intended it to be, he did voice a truth.

What could be more intimate than sex?

What could be more intimate than sharing the most intimate parts of yourself with another person?

Just the intimate physical mechanics of the act itself are so… well.. I can't bring myself to type about the intimate physical mechanics of sex because it is simply...too intimate, but you know what I mean.

What could be more intimate than engaging in the physical communion that BRINGS CHILDREN INTO THE WORLD?

What can be more intimate than sharing the entirety of your body which ties your soul to this earth during an act that brings new souls into the world?  New souls tied to perfect little, precious bodies...

The Human Body

Why do we disrespect and damage our bodies in the pursuit of transient physical pleasure?  Without even thinking of social or spiritual implications, activities like excessive alcohol consumption, drugs, and promiscuous sex with multiple partners can have devastating and life long affects on our physical health.  Such activities can even lead to our death.

We can not live without our bodies, we exist only because our hearts beat.  We can only aspire to ANYTHING because blood runs through our veins (the nurse in me wants to say "pumps though our arteries", but that is not as poetic).

So why do we ascribe so little meaning to our bodies?

Why do we value our bodies so little that something as intimate as sex could simply be recreation?

In my blogs,"Just Physical" and "Echad", I talked about why the act of sex is so much more than just physical.  In this blog, I want to talk about why your body itself is so much more than "just physical".

This message is predominantly for Christians. It is hard to convince atheists that they themselves are more than meets the eye when they don't think there is anything beyond what they can see.

So, to the atheists or agnostics that might read this, I just want to say, that your body IS sacred.  You are made sacred, and you should see yourself that way, every bit of you.  I see you that way.  If I know you or have ever met you, thats how I see you.  Your heart, mind, and soul are sacred, and so is your body.  You were made for perfect love (and I don't mean just romantic love).  If you find this to be an attractive concept, I urge you to consider learning more about God and his Son, Jesus Christ.  You can start now, by continuing to read the rest of this blog.


We were all made in the image of God, whether we acknowledge it or not (that means you too, atheists).  Now, some will say that this claim is just humans asserting themselves as the heroes in the myth of creation as told in the Bible; instead of accepting that we simply and logically evolved into the most complex animals.  However, this claim doesn't have anything to do with the physical expression of our genetics.  This is about our humanity.

Lets look at some verse:

Then God said, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground"

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God, He created them; male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:26-27


So what does that mean? In His image? In His likeness?

This refers to all the qualities that separate us from the other life on this planet:

• Our thirst for knowledge.  Our inexhaustible need to explore and to know God's world from the depths of the oceans to the farthest reaches of space.  We thirst for knowledge because God is omniscient and the love for knowledge has been planted in our hearts so that our desires might echo the truth of God's limitless intellect. "It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out."- Proverbs 25:2  "The eye never has enough of seeing! Nor the ear, its fill of hearing" Ecclesiastes 1:8. The Bible is simply filled with verses that try to describe the scope of God's knowledge.  "He determines the number of the stars; He gives to all of them their names.  Great is our Lord, abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure." Psalm 147:4-5.  However, my favorite passage about God's knowledge is when He speaks to Job in Job 38,  awe-inspiring.  Our intelligence and pursuit of knowledge is probably the most easily discernible trait that sets us apart from animals.  While dolphins and chimpanzees can be quite impressive, their capabilities do not come close to the complexity of our brains and our capacity for learning/understanding. 

• Our ability to empathize with others, to understand and share the feelings of others.  One of my favorite stories from Jesus' life is when He went to the house of Mary and Martha when they were mourning the death of their brother, Lazarus.  Even though Jesus was fully aware that soon He would raise Lazarus from the dead, He was so moved by the grief of his friends that he wept with them, John 11.  Indeed, we are commanded by God to be empathetic "Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep." (Romans 12:15).  However, most human beings on the planet naturally have the ability to empathize with their fellow man even if they have never heard this commandment.  One does not have to be a Christian to be empathetic (obviously).  It is part of our humanity. We are wired by God, in His image, to have this ability, see 2 Corinthians 1.  It is remarkable to me that the God of all creation can empathize with the pain and joy of His creation which is so lowly compared to His righteousness, see Isaiah 57.  Now, in the Bible, God's empathy is always referred to as "compassion" because compassion is empathy in action.  Empathy alone is not a complete quality of God.  God isn't just empathetic, He is compassionate.  Pslam 78   I would like to highlight just one recently discovered example of compassion here on earth: http://www.amazima.org/katiesstory.html.  Compassion is perhaps my favorite quality of humanity, and I'm not alone in this.  On the internet, compassion has its own "meme" which directly relates it to our humanity.  On tickld.com (my favorite internet community), whenever a story is shared about some compassionate act, this meme is sure to follow:

• The gift of our morality.  Human beings, through the common gift of our conscience, are moral creatures.  Most of our contemporaries in this culture seem to uphold the tarnished brass rule of "if it doesn't physically hurt anyone else than it is ok", but many still appreciate the golden rule "do unto others as you would have done unto you."   We might have varying perceptions of "right" and "wrong" but we all do ponder them. Even Hitler thought about "right" and "wrong", he just had a very perverted sense of "right" and "wrong".  We all have morality. This is not found in the animal kingdom. The best example I can think of is a lion killing cubs. You can read about infanticide in the animal kingdom in a BBC article here and watch it in the video below. Now, the lion commits infanticide for several reasons, all of which are logical for the continuation of his genetic line.  The majority of the people on earth will agree that killing children once living and breathing outside of the womb is morally "wrong", and we continue to debate the morality of killing children inside the womb.  Although I believe abortion is murder  (yeah, thats right I said it.), at least we are all debating abortion as a moral issue.  At least we all understand that such things must be carefully considered as moral issues.  A lion does not have the ability to do this.  In the video I have attached below, the lion does not experience a moral crisis before killing those cubs in cold blood.  He does not consider morality. So, why do we?  Because we have our conscience.  Our conscience is a gift from God, which convicts us of the TRUTH that "right" and "wrong" exist.  "For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.  They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus."- Romans 2:13-16.   Our conscience convicts us when we are sinful so that we might strive to be more righteous BECAUSE God is righteous and He made us to be righteous in His image.  Of course, apart from God, our morality is faulty and easily misguided/perverted (hence "crime" as we know it and such things as abortion). "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.  Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron." - 1 Timothy 4:1-2.  Our tragically flawed morality exposes our need for Jesus Christ.  I don't think one need do more than think about such tragedies as the Boston Marathon bombings or such injustice as the antics of corrupt politicians to acknowledge the truth that the collective conscience of humanity is flawed.    

Video source for mobile devices here.

• Our desire to create.  Every painting- from a child's scribble to the mona lisa, every building- from our most humble of homes to the Khalifa Tower in Dubai, every invention - from the wheel to the air plane, every film- from Muybridge's fast motion horse to Schindler's List, every medical miracle- from penicillin to stem cell therapy, every song -from "I'm a little teapot" to Mozart's 5th symphony, every dance from the hokey-pokey to the Bolshoi Ballet, and every child- for we don't just give birth to off-spring for the continuation of our species; we create children of inherent hope, inspiration, and perfect potential. While it takes numerous forms, the desire to create is in all of us from our very beginning and ties us to the great passion of God apart from which we would not exist.  Perhaps this is also the best example of how we are made in God's likeness and not as demigods.  For everything we create is truly only an arrangement, a re-fashioning, of God's creation.  As a child models the actions of his/her parents, so we as God's children are inspired by His creation and yearn to create as well.  "For behold, he who forms the mountains and creates the wind, and declares to man what is his thought, who makes the morning darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth— the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!"- Amos 4:13  "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork."- Psalm 19:1  "...and [God] has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship,  to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze,  in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft." - Exodus 38:31-35.   "Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men." - Proverbs 22:29 "Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them"- Romans 12:6  This attribute of humanity, the desire to create, is one that I find most enjoyable in my fellow humans.  It is an absolute joy for me in the one I love, and I have been very blessed to know many marvelous artists aka creators.  You think Cirque de Soleil is cool? Check out some of my favorite creators here.  

• Indeed, our appreciation of the world God made, to be awed by the glory of it and to struggle to communicate that awe to each other with language.  Just to examine the changing vernacular and rich material of authors from Shakespeare to Emerson to Kierkegaard to F. Scott Fitzgerald to J.R.R. Tolkein.  How amazing is our ability to communicate, to recognize and attempt to articulate the wonder in the world around us which only human beings are capable of doing.  I offer the entirety of the Bible as an example. Nay, I offer the entirety of literature, newspapers, oral histories and folk tales, music, body language and dance, film, television, greeting cards, the dictionary, all the spoken languages of the world... shall I go on?  The need to understand and be understood, AMAZING.  What is humanity without communication?   "We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. In return (I speak as to children) widen your hearts also." - 2 Corinthians 6: 11-13 "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver." - Proverbs 25:11  "From the fruit of a man's mouth his stomach is satisfied; he is satisfied by the yield of his lips. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits." - Proverbs 18:20-21  "I write these things to you so you might know you have eternal life"- 1 John 5:13  The glorious communication of God is shown in nothing more clearly than in His Son, Jesus Christ, who is called The Word.  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." John 1:1-5  

• Lets talk about existentialism, the human ability to analyze and interpret "existence in an unfathomable universe and the plight of the individual" (Thanks, Merriam-Webster dictionary).    To ponder what life is, what it means, what our purpose is, how we relate to each other... what other creature on this planet ever questions its life?  Long before Neitzsche, Kafka, and Kierkegaard; Solomon pondered the plight of the individual through the entire book of Ecclesiastes, in the Bible.  "What does man gain by all the work at which he toils under the sun? A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises." -Ecclesiastes 1:3-5  We yearn for that understanding because we were created to know it and will, once we are no longer separated from the God whose image we bear.  "For now, we see only a reflection, as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now we know in part, but then we shall know fully, just as we are fully known." - 1 Corinthians 13:12

• We're almost done, I promise.  Now, I would like to talk about what is referred to as the "indomitable human spirit".  This is hope regardless of the odds of success/survival;  perseverance regardless of tribulation/persecution; the inability to accept defeat.  This is what inspired deaf and blind Helen Keller to learn to speak and read despite being imprisoned in her own body.  This is what gave Amelia Earhart the confidence to fly around the world (yes, even though she failed).  This is what enabled Rudolf Vrba and Alfred Wetzler to escape Auschwitz twice before finally succeeding in order to try to warn the world of the Nazi's death factory.  This is what made it possible for Malala Yousafzai to survive being shot in the head by the Taliban and return as an even more influential voice for women's right to education.  What great accomplishment throughout history; what personal triumph has been achieved or even just attempted without this incredible power of assurance?  The indomitable human spirit, it is called "human" for a reason.  Animals may show great courage, take calculated risks, or react illogically when surprised or desperately when cornered; but they do not have a sense of hope.  The still, small voice inside that tells use we will make it; some sense of destiny that tells us we will prevail.  I will argue, that the "indomitable human spirit" comes from an inherent, subconscious sense that we were made for glory; we were made to prevail; we were made to rise above all the injustice and suffering in the world; we were made to triumph.  God created us for His glory, and it glorified God to make us in His image and appoint us as stewards of the Earth.  God created us to subdue the earth and have dominion over it, (Genesis 1:26-28).  Think about that.  We were made to be immortal and subdue and dominate the world while enjoying perfect communion with the God of the universe!  Fortune and glory, kid, fortune and glory.  We weren't born to suffer, to be imprisoned, to be tortured, to be oppressed, to be cheated and robbed, to have doubt and shame, to die.  God made us for SO MUCH MORE, because we were made in His image.  We were meant to share in God's glory.  God has dominion over EVERYTHING.  By giving us a taste of that with our divine purpose (subdue the earth and have dominion over it), God gave us a taste of His unimaginable glory as the Lord God.  Because of sin, we failed God.  While mankind has made amazing discoveries and advancements, we don't have dominion over the earth as God intended.  We broke that perfect communion with God and we lost our birthright.  We wage devastating war amongst each other; we scourge the earth and devour its resources; we pollute our environment.  We FAILED as stewards and suffer the immense consequences of sin.  The indomitable human spirit is the subconscious acknowledgment inside all of us that we WERE meant for more.  Because of sin we went from being heirs of the King to being "slaves"to every evil desire.  However, in Christ, we are reconciled to God and once again become heirs.  Because of the amazing love and grace of God, we will know glory through Christ when we are finally fully redeemed (second coming of Christ).  We share in the glory of God through Christ because it glorifies God to reconcile His creation.  Our glory in Christ glorifies God.  For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”  The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,  and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.  For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.  For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.  And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit,groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.  For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?  But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.  And He who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.  And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.  For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.  And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?  Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.  Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?  As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long;we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,  nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  - Romans 8: 14-39

• Second to last, hang in there!  As a big history buff and a lover of mythology, I'm excited to write about this trait of humanity: obsession with the divine and the eternal.  Every social group on the planet from the beginning of the world has pondered what happens after you die, and most came to the conclusion that SOMETHING must happen and that divine entities of some kind must oversee this process.  From the Greeks, we get immortality as logically proposed by such intellects as Socrates; from the Norse, we get a bearded god wielding a massive hammer who ends up making a decent super hero.  Regardless, what matters is the effort, the fact that nearly all people recognize (atheists might say "wish") that this world (and life on it) is transient and there MUST be more.  Many Christians don't like acknowledging mythology as though it somehow diminishes Christianity.  Atheists will tell you it does diminish Christianity, that Christianity is simply another whimsical myth conjured up by people afraid of death.  This is so not true.  A brief history lesson.  According to a creationist timeline, God created mankind about 4,000 years before Christ came.  So God made us; we sinned and broke communion with God; and God cast us out of Eden.  From the fall of man until God called Abraham to form the Jewish nation, we have about 2,000 years of a whole lot of nothing.  No global commandments or decrees from God, no widespread divine knowledge. Other than God shaking the etch-a-sketch with the Great Flood and a handful of faithful followers (Enoch a notable mention), God was kind of biding his time.  So after the flood (estimated about 3,000 BC), for over a thousand years, mankind was busy spreading across the earth, forming social groups, and making up their own mythologies to explain the inherent truth of immortality and the divine. And God just let them do it.  Finally, Abraham is called to form the Jewish nation about 2,000 BC (or BCE for the progressive Atheists, does that added letter make you feel better?)  and, for the next 2,000+ years before Christ comes, the only people who know about God, with a capital G, are the Jews.  There was no evangelism in this era; no Gutenburg printing press to make the Bible available to the masses; actually, there was no Bible!  Its not even in a first draft yet.  Most of Genesis is oral history passed down for thousands of years before Moses (it is believed) wrote it down around 1400 BC and the Jewish scriptures were not shared with Gentiles (non-Hebrews) until after Christ's death (c.33 AD). God was "busy" forming His nation, and this was necessary preparation for Jesus Christ.  However, its not that He was ignoring the rest of the world.  The formation of the Jewish/Hebrew nation of Israel, and allowing the rest of the world to its own devices are equally important portions of the epic saga of the salvation.  God was setting the stage through His direct influence on Israel and indirect influence on the rest of the world. You've got to read the whole Bible to get it.  Anyways, so another 2,000 years go by with God as an in-house secret, while the other nations on earth put the finishing touches on their mythologies regarding the soul and gods and heaven.  This is why we have Buddhism, Hinduism, Greek and Roman mythology, Norse mythology, Taoism, the various communal and henotheistic religions in Africa, and etc.  This is AMAZING.  Left without any direct influence from God, all people across the world still sense the immortality within them and seek to explain the divine.  This is nothing BUT evidence of God.  The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.  Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.  They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. - Psalm 19:1-4  For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.- Romans 1:20  And my very favorite: He has made everything beautiful in its time, and He has set eternity in the heart of man; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. - Ecclesiastes 3:11  The myriad of religions and mythologies that exist on this earth not only testify to the existence of the immortal and the divine, it also shows so clearly that all people are worshipers.  We are built to worship. It is as natural as breathing.  There is NO ONE who does not worship.  Over the course of history, some worshiped what became a mediocre Marvel super hero (hey, Thor); some worshiped the stars and planets, some worshiped the spirits of trees and beavers; some worshipped golden idols.  Today we worship ourselves, or Justin Beiber, or Buddah, or Prince William and Kate, or Miley Cyrus, or the New York Giants, or video games, or the tenants of hedonism (sex, drugs, and alcohol), or material gain, or professional success, competitive athletics, or our significant other, or our parents, or our children.  We attend functions, devote our times and our bodies, raise our hands and voices; we worship.  Maybe you don't worship God, but you worship something.  The opposite of Christianity isn't atheism; it is idolatry.  We all worship something or someone. Maybe you religiously watch football every Sunday.  Maybe you offer continual sacrifices to your children in order to show your devotion to them.  Maybe you can't stop witnessing to others about how amazing your boyfriend/ girlfriend or husband/wife is.  Maybe you attend every Coldplay concert to raise your hands to their exhilarating spirit.  Maybe you devote yourself to pleasure; taking in alcohol and drugs for the almighty high or giving your body over and over as a living sacrifice to the almighty orgasm.  Whatever it is.  We ALL worship.  This shows that God "wired" humanity to worship HIM so that when we reject him, we must find something else to fill that need.

Picture form fanpop.com

• And finally, consider love.  Not just affection, dependence, family/group bonding, tenderness, loyalty, and devotion; facets of love that we can definitely see reflected in animals (dogs being my favorite example). But love. Love that goes beyond simply desiring to be in someone's presence because they make you happy or because you want to make them happy.  Love that sets a deep desire inside you to see another person become the fullest of themselves and achieve their dreams, even if that means they are parted from you.  Love that inspires one heart to be concerned with the deepest matters of another.  Love that so values its object (soul) of their affection that their struggle is yours, their pain is your own, and their joy is what you crave most.  Love which knows that truth is more vital to the soul than comfort. Whether between parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren, husband and wife, amongst friends or relatives; human beings were built to love fiercely in the fullest sense of the word, because God is love.  In fact: Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.  Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Who ever does not love does now know God because God is love. 1 John 4:7-8  So what is love?  Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.  For we know in part and we prophesy in part,  but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.  When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.  For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthains 13: 4-12

Just to recap, our sacred humanity refers to our thirst for knowledge and spirit of exploration, empathy and compassion, morality, creativity, existentialism, our "indomitable human spirit", immortality and our need to worship, and the ability to love.

So, we are created in the image of God, all of us, and our humanity is the expression of God's image.  God saw fit to house His image in these physical bodies, and this makes our bodies holy.  


Now, if you are a Christian, if you believe that God sent His only Son to die for our sins, than you have an actual responsibility to God in regards to your body.  Your body doesn't just house your sacred soul which bares the image of God.

You body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

More on that later.

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Genesis 2:7

I praise you, Lord, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

Psalm 139:14


P.S. A quick note regarding the spread of other religions, Islam does not fit in my theory of how nations developed different mythologies and religions because they were trying to fill the void of the one true God.  Islam came about from the descendants of Abraham's son, Ishmael.  God told Abraham he would have a son with his wife Sarah and that this son would be the first of a great nation (the Jewish nation).  After years of waiting, Sarah got impatient and doubted God's promise.  She convinced Abraham to sleep with her servant Hagar.  Hagar conceived and had Ishmael.  Some time later, Abraham and Sarah finally conceived and had Isaac. Sarah started to resent Ishmael as the "first born" and insisted he was illegitimate and had to be disinherited,  so Abraham sent Ishmael and Hagar away.  Yet, God promised that Ishmael would live and that a mighty nation would come from him.  It is also written that Ishmael's nation would always be in conflict with Isaac's.  Bam, Islam and the constant conflict in the Middle East as we know it today.  Cool huh?  That is why both Islam and Christianity/Judaism share some of the same scriptures/history. Read about it here.