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THE BODY OF CHRIST HAS A MISSING LIMB by Anita Grace Brown

 After contemplating a passage in the book "Rediscovering the lost Body Connection", I was meditating and saw a vision of a God with hundreds of arms and legs…

Wiki tells me the name is Avalokiteshvara and the mantra that goes with him is Om Mani Padme Hum: a compassionate prayer for beings everywhere to end suffering.

I put the mantra on repeat in my mind and after a few days out poured this piece.  I hope you enjoy it!

The Body of Christ has a Missing Limb
by Anita Grace Brown

multiply my eyes
so that i might glimpse all their glorious +
ravaged scars
O I see you!!

make me a hundred ears to
hearken sorrow's echo
fervent
through the canyons
O I hear you!!

a thousand arms to embrace
the multitude of plagued + broken
dreams
O how I feel you!

a million feet
to walk a trillion miles
just to hold a single
thorn-pierced heart

the body of Christ
revealed in mud--
winged lotus
gracefully blooming
+
dove engulfed
in holy flame

feverish pain
swirling inward
cooled only by
a cyclone of
seashell's
whispers

transforming ashen wreckage
the body of Christ has a missing limb

weary, I
query
my own
tender + brambled belly
If one part suffers, every part suffers 
if one part is honored, 
every part rejoices 

the body of Christ
has a missing limb

center-placed palm
stigmata-wound bruised for my iniquities
presses back
compassionate
touch
the body of Christ
has a missing limb

one breath separates
suffering
from surrender
submerged then
found
knitted together
womblike
in the hollows

you...your wounds
your story
your limbs
your love
your peace
your voice

you are the missing
limb 

Anita Brown is a content mother of two teenagers and wife of 20 years, both of which she is grateful for every day. She began writing poetry in the fall of 2012 after a mini-breakdown cracked open her heart and allowed this newly found gift to shine through. Many months later, she is realizing the truth in the saying that ‘breakdown equals spiritual awakening’ as she is pleasantly shocked at how much more peace she has in her spirit and how that is reflected in her life.  Anita loves yoga, dancing, traveling, cooking, walking her golden Sierra, and quiet evenings at home. She especially enjoys teaching meditation to under-served communities and listening to others as they express the same joy at the transformation occurring from such simple but regular practice.


~If you are interested in seeing your poetry appear in this blog, or submitting a poem by a woman that has inspired you, please click here for submission guidelines. I greatly look forward to hearing from you!~

Comments

  1. Magnificent! In your words I hear the power and beauty of Christ living, loving, dying and rising again and again and again... Is it any wonder that some are overwhelmed? As for me - more...

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