A Hymn from St. Symeon

For August, I am taking a writing break. So, I thought it would be a good time to share with you a few poems, hymns, and prayers that have been meaningful to me recently. I hope, as you read them, that they will resonate with you in some way.

This week’s hymn is from St. Symeon the New Theologian (949-1022 AD), and the version I’m sharing comes from the book “Embracing the Body” by Tara Owens.


We awaken in Christ’s body
As Christ awakens our bodies, 
And my poor hand is Christ, He enters
My foot, and is infinitely me.
I move my hand, and wonderfully
My hand becomes Christ, becomes all of Him
(For God is indivisibly
Whole, seamless in His Godhood).
I move my foot, and at once
He appears like a flash of lightening.
Do my words seem blasphemous? - Then
Open your heart to Him
And let yourself receive the one
Who is opening to you so deeply. 
For if we genuinely love Him,
We wake up inside Christ’s body
Where all our body, all over, 
Every most hidden part of it,
Is realized in joy as Him,
As He makes us, utterly, real, 
And everything that is hurt, everything
That seems to us dark, harsh, shameful,
Maimed, ugly, irreparably
Damaged, is in Him transformed
And recognized as whole, as lovely,
And radiant in His life
We awaken as the Beloved
In every last part of our body.    

~ Melissa 

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Rhythms to Anchor Us