Little Lotus Soul

Posted by Jenny Rae Armstrong in Mystical Meanderings of a Love-Struck Soul

4 comments

Binding girls' feet was a common practice in China for over a thousand years. Bound feet were considered intensely attractive, and well-to-do men would not marry a woman who's feet had not been bound.

Much fuss was made over a woman's "little lotus feet", "little lotus shoes", and the tiny, unsteady steps referred to as her "little lotus gait". A woman with bound feet was able to perform domestic duties, but it was impossible for her to venture into the world beyond her household without assistance. She was utterly, irrevocably dependant on her family for everything.

Conscientious mothers began binding their daughter's feet when she was between the ages of four and six, in the winter, so her feet would be numb and the pain less severe. The child's feet were soaked in a mixture of warm water and herbs, then massaged in preparation for what was coming next. The four smallest toes were broken and tucked under, then wrapped tightly in pretty silk bandages that pulled the front of the foot back toward the heel. Sometimes, the toes would develop gangrene and fall off, and this was considered a blessing.

In the early twentieth century, when western missionaries joined forces with the Chinese government to abolish the practice, they were met with stiff resistance. Women did not want to remove the bindings from their feet. They had grown accustomed to this painful, limiting, way of life. The bindings were about more than beauty, they were about a woman's position in Chinese society. And the women, faced with an unbound future, were uncertain and scared.

But under threat of the government, the bindings did come off. It was a physically and emotionally painful process for the women who had been bound, and it was a long time before a woman's whole, healthy feet were met with admiration instead of disgust. Until a girl growing into her full potential was considered a grace, not a disgrace.

I am still not sure that has happened.

When we wrap up our feminine souls to keep them in their proper place, to fit them into the accepted, pre-defined dimensions laid out for us, we are binding the feet of Christ. The God who created our feet is the God who created our souls. Take off the bindings and grow into the fullness of everything God created you to be, and don't let fear and uncertainty stop you. Yes, there will be many wonderfully well-intentioned people who disapprove. But your soul was created for God, not your family, not your husband, not even yourself. Don't cripple it.

How lovely on the mountain are the feet of those who bring Good News!