Last month, Suni Williams and Butch Willmore returned to Earth after an unexpected extension of their eight-day mission to a nine-month stay on the International Space Station (ISS). There was considerable commentary, noting that the extra time seemed to be causing a blow to my body over a few days.
Both the sni and butch appeared to mature as they splattered from the Florida coast in capsules. Williams’ flowing chestnut hair has almost completely white (probably due to the inability to artificially color it in space). Scientists say astronauts are experiencing an accelerated age. Approximately 1% of the bones and muscles are in space every month and die.
Space is a very extreme environment for the human body.
Floating in a zero-gravity environment can feel absolutely fantastic. But when it comes to muscle, it’s the case of using it or losing it. And when there is no gravity, the body does not work very hard. The heart is weakened because there is no need to pump blood against gravity. It appears that the food is less, the sunlight is less, and the increased radiation causes DNA damage similar to smoking a pack of cigarettes per day. In short, space is a very extreme environment for the human body.
Location, space, body
We are very intrigued by the idea that some of us may reach space (or Mars!), but our bodies may pay the price. Our bodies seem to be perfectly designed for a living here, but beyond that, who knows?
Beyond space travel, the developed culture is fighting the importance of the body. “Yes” camp has gym bunnies that polish your perfect body. Also, advertisers seem to think that the body is important even when the ideal image is constantly changing.
In “no” camp, there are people who ignore their bodies with bad food, online gamers with avatars, and rare people who try to freeze their brains, assuming they can regenerate their new bodies when they run out of time.
Most views are somewhere in between. For example, when it comes to being born in the wrong body, I believe that trans movements are important not only to want to change the body, but also something that can change at least on the surface level, but check out this fascinating BBC work where one person changed his mind in transition surgery after an encounter with Jesus.
Body and human lens
I don’t have a body. We are embodied.
Being a human is definitely physical. The conversation around the body is in the presence section of the human lens. I don’t have a body. We are embodied. And being a body is something we share with all other people. It is through our bodies that we exist in each other and in the world.
Our daily rhythms are oriented around our bodies – shaking, dressing, eating, drinking, working, walking, all of which make the universe look very different. The body finds us at certain times, at certain places, with certain people. The body is special.
I don’t have a body. We are embodied. And being a body is something we share with all other people.
It is also true that your embodied experience is unique to you. We all have bodies, but your body is different from mine and vice versa. Some are growing, some are weak, some are healing, others are relaxed. We have an incredible amount of physical autonomy, but that freedom is mixed with frailty. We use and abuse our bodies in many ways. We train them, tan, feed them, puncture them, ink them, work.
Perhaps you are fasting to lend and limit what is in your body. Maybe you’re continuing to discuss suicide assisted aides. In the UK, it means a possible change in law that allows doctors to help end patients’ lives when their bodies fail. Or maybe you’re intrigued by the influence of space on the bodies of astronauts who’ve been stuck for nine months.
God’s tales remind us that the body is important.
God’s tales remind us that the body is important, and communion is a wonderful habit to reflect the body. It is an embodied experience around moments of transformation.
We share brokenness and healing. As we approach Easter Sunday, hope for a resurrection will not abolish the pain of suffering or death. Traveling through the valley of the shadows of death is still difficult. But death does not beat us. Instead, we are waiting for a new heaven and a new Earth Resurrection Group.
If any of us can get there, space may strain our bodies, but Christians have certain hopes of a resurrected body that does not corrupt (Corinthians 15:52).
Originally published by the Being Human blog, which is related to the British Evangelical Alliance. It was reissued with permission.
Peter Linas oversees the advocacy team and the work of the alliance in four British countries. He is passionate about his faith in public squares and leads a human project with Joe Frost. He previously worked as a barrister in Belfast before studying theology at Regent College in Vancouver. Peter is a regular media commentator, married to Rose, has two daughters and loves to run.
