who woulda thunk?

It was a slow news week, so I decided to create some news. Actually, it's something I've always wanted to do, but since my daughters both decided to go ahead and do it, I thought, why not? So I did it, too: I got my ear pierced and I now have a nice little gold cross adorning my left ear.

It's really interesting to note people's reactions. Some are amused, some are repulsed, some are mystified. Winnie calls it my "midlife crisis". A grandmother who visits our church regularly stopped me in the hall and told me, "It's beautiful!" Someone else told me it fit my persona, but was a bit unusual for someone in my stage of life (was that code for "but at YOUR age?!")

I guess it all highlights something that we all know, but often try to deny: what we do with our bodies has meaning. We are embodied spirits, i.e., our bodies and spirits are integrally connected. "I can worship with my mind and heart, I don't really need to actually bow down or raise my hands." "Sure, I'm not at Sunday worship with everyone, but I'm there in spirit." But we need our bodies to cultivate spiritual habits. That's what's so hard about spiritual disciplines: they require physical discipline, not just good intentions. Our character is shaped by what we do, not by what we think. "Faith without works is dead."

So I wonder what sort of spiritual meaning would have been expressed by getting my nose pierced...?