The Blessing of a Mortal Body

Whether a person struggles with SSA or with inappropriate attractions to the opposite gender (OSA), some of the difficulty seems to lie in our ignorance. By this I mean that there seems to be a "mystique" about the human body that has its origins in our lack of understanding about it.

The restored gospel teaches us that the mortal body is an important part of our eternal progression, and that it is a gift from a loving heavenly Father. It is not inherently evil, as has been thought by some.

As part of the Father's plan, we each experience attractions which are intended to bring us to marry, which is also an important part of the plan. Those attractions are divinely inspired. However, and particularly when we labor in ignorance, those attractions can be distorted into inappropriate feelings of attraction.

The body is a marvelous gift. It's functioning is divinely designed. We take much for granted, even as we enjoy the blessing of how well it functions.

As I have learned about how it functions, it has given me a greater appreciation for what a marvelous gift it is, and a much greater reverence for both the Creator and for his children. In that appreciation and reverence one can also find strength in the challenges of dealing with inappropriate feelings.

The following are some of my musings on the subject.

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We all live in a mortal, physical body. It works so well that we rarely worry about how it works, except when it doesn’t. That is one of the marvelous aspects of it.

I have recently read about the muscles of the body. I was amazed at the complexity I discovered. For instance:

How do muscles work? Muscles that work our bodily parts are placed in ways I had never imagined. Because they pull and twist our various parts, they have to be placed in such a way to make that possible. Thus, the muscles originating in the chest (thorax) and shoulder control the upper arm; the muscles of the upper arm control the lower arm; and the muscles of the lower arm control the hand. The same is true in the thigh and leg. A muscle must have its origin in a “fixed” point not in the limb being moved, in order to have any effect on the limb. The muscles originating in the hip and abdomen control the thigh, the muscles of the thigh control the knee and leg, and the muscles of the leg control the foot and toes.

For example, bend the right arm at the elbow, and hold the forearm in front of your chest, palm down. Repeatedly flex the fingers, making a fist, then extending the fingers. As you repeat this action several times, watch the motion beneath the skin just below the elbow. You will see the upper end of the extensor carpi ulnaris, as it flexes the fingers. This muscle extends from the outside of the forearm, just below the elbow, down into the little finger.

On the back of your hand you can see a number of cord-like lines, which pass from the wrist to the fingers. In part, these are the lower end of the extensor communis digitorum muscle, which originates just below the elbow in the upper arm (on the outside) and reaches into your fingers.

Another good example will probably be best done in the shower when no one is looking. Lift your knee so that your thigh is in a horizontal position. Move your foot toward the other leg slightly, while flexing your thigh. Here you can observe the muscles extending from the pelvic region down into the inner side of the thigh.

One last example: the gastrocnemius is the superficial muscle which forms the greater part of the calf. This muscle has its origin in the femur (thigh bone), and reaches to the foot, forming the Achillis tendon. If you raise your foot up and down (as in tapping your foot in time with the music), you can feel this muscle flexing just below the knee.

A number of muscles in the lower leg reach down into the foot and connect with the toes. Perhaps this is why the calf and shin muscles hurt when a person wears uncomfortable shoes. This is probably also why a cast for a broken bone in the foot reaches far up the leg: the muscles affecting the broken bone must be immobilized by the cast.

One of my favorite demonstrations can be done by placing the hands in front of the chest, and flexing the shoulder and neck muscles. If you watch yourself in the mirror as you do this, you can clearly see both clavicles (collar bones). You can also see the sterno-mastoid muscles, which appear as two cords angling down the side of the neck toward the sternum (the narrow flat bone in the center of your chest). Then as you raise, lower, and rotate your shoulders, you can see the clavicles (collar bones) moving the shoulders up, down, and all around.

There is much to be appreciated about how marvelous the body is. It is complex and beautiful, in both its design and operation.