Be Your Own Bodyguard

The Mayan Indians admired the looks of slightly cross-eyed people. To cause it in their own children, they hung beads close to their babies' faces. Deliberate and often grotesque deforming of the body has been common in many aboriginal tribes - and it is not altogether uncommon in the more "civilized" segments of some societies (including ours): tattooing, nose- and tongue -piercing, knife-scarring of skin, neck-stretching, foot-binding, and navel ring wearing.

Appropriate haircutting, nail-trimming, or use of cosmetics to make the body socially more presentable is not necessarily bad if it is not outright vanity. But to impair physical function or to unnecessarily mutilate the body shows a basic lack of appreciation of one's own human dignity. Like the human soul, the body has its own intrinsic dignity and nobility, as we know from biblical revelation: first, as it relates to Christian eschatology: "God raised the Lord from the dead, and we will raise us also. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself?" (1 Cor 6:14-15). (This, by the way, is the basis for the devotional use of bodily relics of the saints.)

Secondly, Paul extols our bodily dignity in the context of chastity: "He who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit?...Therefore honor God with your body" (vv. 18-20). What a privilege - to think that we can honor God with our bodies, not just our souls!

This excerpt is from the book One-Minute Meditations for Busy People, by John H. Hampsch, C.M.F., originally published by Servant Publications. It and other of Fr. Hampsch's books and audio/video recordings can be purchased from Claretian Teaching Ministry, 20610 Manhattan Pl, #120, Torrance, CA 90501-1863. Phone 1-310-782-6408 or www.Catholicbooks.net