It came to me as a suddenly sobering thought that how I move my body might reflect how the Body of Christ moves in the world.
Paul prays in Ephesians 3:16-19…”that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith; that you being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height–to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
Strengthened with might in the inner man is an especially pleasing hope for a svelte man like myself. My high school football coach once caught sight of me on the scales at 112 pounds and asked who I was; my answer of right defensive tackle got me hoisted bodily and deposited in the cross country teams locker room down the hall.
Later I encountered Tai Chi Chu’an as taught by Cheng Man-ch’ing as a simplified method of calisthenics for health. My instructors quoted the master in explaining the application and function of Tai Chi Chu’an hinged entirely upon the player’s consciousness. The essence of the practice was spelled out on a scroll on the wall of the instruction hall.
“Let the postures be without
breaks or holes,
hollows or projections,
or discontinuities and continuities of form.
The motion should be rooted in the feet,
released through the legs,
controlled by the waist,
and manifested through the fingers.”
Forty years later I still practice a bit having at long last recovered from my teacher’s observation that my Tai Chi was “sexy, but useless.” During one recent session of waving my arms in the clouds the prayer from Ephesians illuminated my every twist and turn. Our posture, in the Body of Christ, should be without hollows or projections, rooted and grounded in love, released through the legs that we may be able to comprehend the love of Christ, manifested through the fingers.
This mash up of Christ-Chi Consciousness may not translate well. The idea of answering a call to action by resting in the Lord requires grace to perceive as well as experience. It’s much like embracing the tiger and returning to the mountain with the same care one would use to grasp a sparrow’s tail. There is a width and length and depth and height to be measured by lending our folding, and unfolding, hands.
