Thoughts on Body Image & Christ’s Transfiguration
Walking up to the little corner of the church, my hand clutching a small post-it note of scribbled sins, my heart starts to beat a little faster. I’m a little nervous, though I don’t know why. I have done this many times before. Perhaps my soul realizes what my mind does not yet -- the weight of the Sacrament in which I am about to participate: Holy Confession. (For Orthodox Christians, Holy Confession is one of the sacraments or holy mysteries of the Church, and through it, the penitent receives Christ’s forgiveness by confessing sins to a confessor -- usually a parish priest or monastic).
I fumble through my thoughts, as a stream of consciousness spills out. I talk about my struggle with my body image, how it sometimes keeps me from knowing God, from pursuing Him. At times I look at others and am wounded by their beauty, only seeing what I lack myself instead of their own unique inner light. It’s distracting. And it’s exhausting. My spiritual father, the one hearing my confession, points up at the icon gazing down at us. It’s the icon of the Holy Transfiguration.
Here is Christ draped in white and divinely radiant. A human body, and perfect. It gave me pause. Never had I really thought of viewing human beauty through the eyes of the divine. What is this bodily perfection that I seek, and how do I reconcile that with the Christian struggle of pursuing a life that magnifies Christ’s light?
Today, the Feast of the Transfiguration presents an opportunity to explore that question and reevaluate our understanding of body image through a more sacred lens.
Defining Beauty
To begin, it can be helpful to recognize how each of our definitions of beauty is shaped, and by whom. What standards of comparison are we using? What messages do we internalize and accept as truth? From as intimate as interactions with our family, friends, and teachers to as impersonal as societal norms, our images of self are formed and reformed by various hands. But the truest formation comes from the hands of our Creator.
When we revisit the creation story, we are reminded that “God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness’” (Genesis 1:26). When we start with this truth as a baseline of our understanding of our image, we create space for our definition of beauty to expand to one that grants freedom, body appreciation, and even healing.
The book goes on. “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). Our bodies are good because they were made by the source of Goodness itself. We carry this inherent goodness inside of us, a seed of original beauty.
Understanding Body Image
Having a positive body image, however, does not mean that we believe we boast such goodness or that we love everything about our bodies. It means that we respect our bodies and care for them as the gifts that they are.
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
Here St. Paul reminds us of our aim, to glorify God in all we do. We have been given a body for such a job -- a temple. Yet, a sacred space such as a temple is nothing without that which makes it sacred. It is not about the walls of the temple, or the body itself, but what dwells within. We are called to nurture a body equipped for housing the soul -- both of which are from God and for God. Our bodies are sacred gifts we should care for, but not what we’re made for.
Understanding Body Image, cont.
Often, a positive body image is contingent upon a feeling of self-worth. The Psalms give us a peek into the worth God gave us from the very beginning:
For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well. (Psalm 139: 13-14)
How intimate and special. We don’t need to achieve a certain aesthetic to achieve a certain worth. Our appearance is not what makes us worthy of love. God already gave us our worth when He created us. And His love requires nothing of us.
The Transfiguration, one of the twelve Great Feasts in the Orthodox Church, celebrated on August 6th.
Seeking Christ
Ultimately, a quest for a healthy body image is not about us; it’s about Christ.
Let us pursue Christ to find true body positivity, and reveal the light that dwells within. Let us perceive and honor the light of Christ in others. Let us embrace the light that Christ reveals to us today on the feast of Transfiguration.
Thou wast transfigured on the mount. O Christ God, revealing Thy glory to Thy disciples as they could bear it. Let Thine everlasting light shine upon us sinners. Through the prayers of the Theotokos, O Giver of Light, glory to Thee (Troparion).
Your relationship to your body is beautiful, and it can be complex. If you would like to explore body & food relationship through an Orthodox Christian lens, take the first step in working with me 1:1 by booking your free discovery call.
