“Letter to a Christian sister, troubled”

You are not your car
You are not your house
You are not your job
You are not your children
You are not your face
You are not your thoughts
You are nothing
But a body, breathing
Life into soul.

You may have to fight for all these things
- These things you love but are not.
Fight then, like a wounded bear:
She turns, and roars, and fights on
not because she ought to
but because she is her body.

You can trust your body
You can trust your breath
You can trust the animation of your flesh
Because you are nothing
But a body, breathing,
By virtue of your virtue,
Having died to self.
And here you are.
Risen.

You carry God within your body
He is crucified in your pain
He is risen in your breath.

Of course you know this.
And that doesn't matter.
Matter has weight.
Even air weighs more than thought.
Breathe this.
Breathe that.

Fight on.

-Matthew Lawrence
March 15, 2009