Ethics Embodied 2: Moral Muscles

Been awhile...and summer invites us to a different rhythm of life. Nonetheless, this July 4th I am thinking about the things that we believe are worth "fighting for" and how this relates to the previous post on Embodied Ethics. The founders of our country believed that certain freedoms are worth "fighting for." One could say this belief was pat of their moral tissue--or moral "muscle" if you will.

Moral muscle...hmmm. That has me thinking. How strong are our moral muscles? What and Who are we willing to fight for? The Oppressed in the world are often not lacking moral muscle, but are rather being overpowered by individuals and systems that are unjust. Will we engage our "moral muscles" to fight on their behalf? Will we embody our ethics? What would it look like to flex our Moral Muscles and fight back poverty, discrimination, hatred, hunger, corruption,...

Embodied Ethics. Let's put some Muscle behind it!

Moral Tissues...Ethics Embodied

 Edith Wharton (1862-1937) wrote the following in her novel "Sanctuary" (1903) about a mother who is trying to guide her son...

"It was part of her discernment to be aware that life is the only real counselor, that wisdom unfiltered through personal experience does not become a part of the moral tissues." (p. 123)

There is a lot packed in this little statement I think. First, I think unfiltered wisdom in our day and age is actually called "knowledge". Knowledge about things can be interesting, but what to do with knowledge, applied knowledge, is actually called "wisdom."  And wisdom comes from experience. So...what about the phrase "moral tissues?" That's a new one for me....but...this was written in 1903. I think this is a fascinating somatic idiom, the idea of "moral tissue." Maybe said another way: Ethics cannot simply be a cognitive or intellectual exercise...although clear and rigorous thinking must be part of its formation. Ethics and morality must also become a part of our "moral tissues"...a part of the very fiber of our beings, i.e., ethics must be embodied.  This a challenge for all of us. When the rubber hits the road, when the birds come home to roost, when the gig is up...you name it....our moral fiber is being tested to see if it is really true. We embody what we believe, more than we know.

Translating: From One Field to Another....

It has long been a calling of mine, to be a bridge person. Another way to say this is that I often find myself translating concepts of one discipline to the understanding of another. This in itself is ironic, because it is my elder sister who is the one who has a PhD in Linguistics! Lucky for me, I don't have to be able to spell or pronounce the words I use (thank God for spellcheck)...I just get to write about them :)

So...what is the latest translation/bridge I am working on? It is the translation of the concept of energy, Chi, or Qi--which Bodyworkers are very familiar with. But you talk to a mental health professional or a theologian about "Energy" or "Chi" and they think you have fallen out of your rocker. So...here goes.

For Psychology People: "Energy" can be translated to "Embodied Emotion." We know that we don't just have cognitions about how we feel...we FEEL our emotions. And that feeling often has a level of force to it, i.e., energy. Anger for example...when you are angry, you may feel like decking someone. That is a force to be reckoned with. Or maybe you feel love for someone, that makes you tender and attentive to them. Emotion "moves" you, and, our physicist friends know, that to move something you need ENERGY. Hence, emotions are energy expressed through the body. Does this reduce emotions to energy? No, of course not--emotions are more than energy--but energy is required to feel them.

For Theologians: "Energy" can be translated to "power [of the spirit/Spirit]." Energy moves things...and the spirit/Spirit moves things. Do we know how? Nope. Jesus said, "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." John 3:8. Of course, also interesting is the word for "power" in the Bible is also "dunamis"--the same word we derive the English word for "dynamite"--and we know that is powerful stuff. So when we talk about the power/energy of the Spirit of God, we may be using the word "dunamis." The Spirit moves things. This is often why, in a worship service where people find themselves, clapping, raising their hands, or crying--they say, "The Spirit was moving in today's service." Why? Because they felt their emotions connecting with their faith. They felt MOVED. And that is the job and power of the Spirit. Does this reduce the Spirit or our own spirit to our emotions--of course not. The wind is not reduced to its effects...our emotions may be the effects of the moving of our or God's Spirit.

So finally, is energy (chi or Qi) simply a force? This is where I would diverge from some bodyworkers. Some do believe energy is only a force. I believe that God is more than an impersonal force. We would surely be in trouble if God were reducible to a "force." A "force" cannot love, care, redeem, protect, etc. But God can--and does through the Spirit. So, God is more than this, but our language limits us. But our language, doesn't limit God.