Sensuality of SmartWools

I know I am home when I start my morning by donning SmartWools. There is something comforting and lovely about living in sweaters and warm socks. I feel most myself when I am wrapped in fleece and wool. We are happy to be home with the rain, the crisp air, fabulous friends, our animals and wonderful hikes.

But, maybe there is a little part of me that misses skimpy dresses and sun kissed skin. I don't get to dress in little dresses very often for a whole host of reasons and there is a part of me that misses having so much skin exposed to the elements.

It was the sensuality of the Russian Orthodox liturgy that drew me back into the faith as a recent college graduate many years ago. The smells, tastes and sounds of the worship made me experience the presence of God even when I didn't understand what I meant by "God". In much the same way, the sensuality of Malaysia drew me back into a life that burst with smells, tastes, and sounds.

It was not just my skin that tingled with exposure to sun and ocean breezes, but my taste buds exploded with the flavorful food, my nose was met with sometimes repulsive and sometimes pleasing scents, and my ears were filled with the Muslim call to prayer, the vendors wooing us, and the waves crashing. I felt incredibly alive.

That's not to say that I don't feel alive normally, but it is a lot easier to forget about the succulent scents of dinner when you are just trying to get everyone fed and on to the next activity. It is easy to ooze into frumpiness when I'm happy to not smell bad and have coffee in my cup. Too often in my life, comfort trumps consciousness, to do lists beat serendipitous gifts, and autopilot takes over living.

Sanity is important to me and I need my rituals, lists, and quick dinners to keep us all rolling, but I also need to remember the God we worship is a fleshy god. We worship a God who dwells deeply in this world waking us up to abundant life. The more I disconnect from this world, the more I insulate myself from the God who delights and weeps with us.

So I breathe, pray, sing, delight in my socks and the fact that every inch of my body is covered and cozy. I walk, laugh, play games, and use hot sauce. I'll always run the risk of turning my to-do lists and comfort into idols, but I trust God to keep calling me to repent. I trust God to keep calling me back into the world to be raw and alive, to delight and weep, to love exposed and unprotected.