Abstract
You can feel it when it happens. A sudden burst of exquisite joy! A beam of radiant light filling the heart. A clarity of vision startling the mind. A depth of perception awakening half-dulled senses. A deep breath that unexpectedly fills the body, refreshing the spirit as it moves through every cell. A profound knowingness of being alive and interconnected with every person, every being, with the very stuff of stars. Being alive to Mystery stuns, enlivens and emboldens us to live our lives with fierce purpose and deep love.
The physicality of grace, an unmerited gift of Ultimate Reality, is unmistakable when it can be perceived. What embodied practices quickly gather people of diverse religions, cultures and worldviews, creating a powerful sense of interconnection, birthing fresh, imaginative responses to shared challenges? How can deep listening reveal one’s inner landscape, the foundation for authentic interaction? Being awake to the power and the danger of the body offers a gateway to avenues of engagement for building future realities.
This chapter will take a deep dive into reverence for our human bodies and the profound wisdom that resides within, grounded in embodied, playful practices with diverse interreligious encounters both intimate and grand.
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Notes
- 1.
Gospel of Matthew 7:12.
- 2.
Corinthians 6:19.
- 3.
Romans 8: 6-9a.
- 4.
Letter to Susan M. Pudelek, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, December 14, 2013.
- 5.
Information on the website: www.interplay.org. “InterPlay is an active, creative approach to unlocking the wisdom of the body. Teaching people to improvise with the five languages of their body: movement, voice, words, contact, and stillness, InterPlay leaders design artful learning environments that are enjoyable, community building and transformative.” InterPlay/Body Wisdom Inc., is a non-profit arts education organisation directed by founders Cynthia Winton-Henry and Phil Porter since 1989. The founders have degrees in dance, education, textile design, theology and social sciences.
- 6.
2004 Parliament of the World’s Religions Summary Report, p. 11.
- 7.
2004 Parliament of the World’s Religions Summary Report, p. 10.
References
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Lindahl, K. (2002). The Sacred Art of Listening: Forty Reflections for Cultivating a Spiritual Practice. Woodstock: SkyLight Paths Publishing.
Paulsell, S. (2002). Honoring the Body: Meditations on a Christian Practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Tutu, D. (1994). The Rainbow People of God: The Making of a Peaceful Revolution. New York: Random House, Inc..
Winton-Henry, C., & Porter, P. (2004). What the Body Wants. Kelowna: Northstone Publishing.
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Pudelek, S.M. (2020). Being Alive to Mystery. In: Bussey, M., Mozzini-Alister, C. (eds) Phenomenologies of Grace. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40623-3_9
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