Day 26: "Bless Your Holy Kneecaps"

I

found this excerpt of Andrea Gibson's poem "I Sing The Body Electric; Especially When My Power Is Out."

B

less your heart

Bless your body
Bless your holy kneecaps
They are so smart
You are so full of rain
There is so much that is growing
Hallelujah to your weather vanes
Hallelujah to the ache
To the pull
To the fall
To the pain
Hallelujah to the grace
And the body
and every cell of us all

E

very arch structure is unable to stand until the capstone is finally fixed at the center. When the capstone is fixed, the whole structure is deemed stable and strong. The capstone is also called keystone because it bears a key role of crowning and culminating all the labor and resources that were poured into the project. A certain builders’ rite—topping out rite—deserves to be celebrated with gratitude and joy among all the stonemasons and bricklayers.

Did you know that the knee is one of the largest and most complex joints in the body of animals called tetrapods, i.e., a group of four-limbed vertebrate animals higher than fishes? The knee functions like the arch. Imagine the kneecap as the capstone that once you break your kneecap you would become a paraplegic or a person with paralysis of the legs and lower body.

The famous Sun Tzu (544-496 BCE) is believed to be the same person named Sun Bin which is a name that literally means "Sun the Kneecapped." Sun Tzu is hailed as the father of all military theory in China and he is also traditionally credited to have authored "The Art Of War"—a compendium of military experience and wisdom on tactical warfare. There is a legend that he was mutilated by his arch rival Pang Juan. Out of jealousy Pang Juan secretly masterminded the physical torture of Sun Bin who was more superior in terms of military prowess.

On day twenty-six of the Season of Creation, let us bow and kneel recognizing how steeply we owe all our actions and physical operations to the kneecap. Let us marvel at God's strategic plans in making it possible for amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals to walk, run or fly, to kneel down in awe and adoration. 8thWorker.us