The more I learn about the human body the more miraculous it becomes to me. Some people say that science and faith are incompatible; I can’t imagine them being separated. After watching how the human body develops in the womb and then to see how it works, grows, adapts and responds to its environment… Well, that to me is the strongest evidence for God’s hand on my life. The elegant simplicity feels like God’s signature. I see the hand of the Designer in the Design.
So, why a book? I want to present this evidence. I want to help people see the magnificence that is in them, uniquely and wonderfully accessible in their very being. People of all ages need to hear this. Children need to start here. Young people need this as a resource, a tangible truth to hold onto as they grow up in a world that may try to tell them differently. Adults of all ages may find this a new way to connect closely with a God who may sometimes seem far away. And our older generation deserves to hear this again as reassurance that, though our flesh may decline, we are undiminished in our preciousness to God.
Perhaps most of all, I believe our world is in desperate need of this message: you are God’s beloved flesh and blood and so is your neighbor. Knowing and believing this, I must act with compassion and kindness toward myself and toward every neighbor, even the one with whom I differ or disagree.
Who is Made to Move for?
No, you don’t need to be interested in fitness and/or sports, unless you already are. In that case you will likely choose to apply the book’s lessons through your fitness practice or sport performance. Of course you still must do more than read it, you have to do it.
But really, Made to Move is for every body because we all have one — the gift of a generous God – and we’re meant to use it. The book creates a space where we can explore our amazing design and discover how we are uniquely made to move closer to God. Even those who are uncomfortable with movement or “don’t like” to move, I hope, will find ways to experience what happens when we tune into our body and notice what it shows us when we listen to it and apply ourselves to caring for it.
How can movement help you feel God’s presence and get to know God better?
Sitting still, to me, can feel confining. I find movement to be freeing and enlightening. When I engage my body and let my mind wander of its own accord, God consistently and graciously meets me in the free space. There, I find clarity, conversation, ideas, words, solutions to tangled issues and/or assurance in difficult dilemmas. This experience is so reliable I carry a notepad and pen to record what I learn.
From a scientific (one might say, left-brained) perspective, our bodies are designed for movement and created with built-in movement sensation. We are born with both sensory and motor pathways; the sensory gives us an awareness of our world and the motor provides a way to respond to it. So, yes, that good smell leads us to the kitchen for supper and, no, that hot stove is not for touching! Sensation and response, a God who created us in His image designed us this way.
Movement also may be evoked as a response to song, music, word or prayer; this seems instinctive. Toddlers move in rhythm. We dance to a band. King David danced before the Lord! I find liturgical dance emotionally powerful, having been brought to tears watching a dancer in a wheelchair who didn’t let her cerebral palsy stop her.
The Spirit of movement is strong.
