Body

You and I have been at war
For many a year now.
Since first grade, when I first saw myself
Through other people's eyes,
We have battled, locked in a 
Mutual enmity. 
I sought to ignore you and your needs. 
I wrestled unsuccessfully with your endless streams of
Cravings and demands
Bordering on addiction and obsession. 
Somewhere deep within,
I longed to be unleashed from you. 
I prayed for corporeal disembodiment,
To be a floating consciousness
Unfettered from flesh. 
Now, 
We wear the signs of the struggle,
And I long for peace with you. 
Not just a truce,
But genuine peace,
Where I can say,
"I finally feel at home in my flesh."
I realize that the body is not
A heinous thing. 
After all, it was the Creator who
Gifted us with bodies,
And we can only experience Him
Within souls and spirits 
Temporarily housed in those bodies. 
Someday we will be clothed in 
Incorruptible bodies - 
But bodies we will continue to have. 

Lord, 
Remove Epictetus *
From my Christ-like thought processes.
Let me remember that the body
Is Your gift,
And a temple
Holy unto You,
To be honored and respected,
Until it is transformed 
Into a vessel of 
Your incorruptible Glory!

* Epictetus was a Greek philosopher of the Stoic school of thought