Excerpt: Lyvonne Briggs’ “Sensual Faith: The Art of Coming Home to Your Body”

(Book cover via Penguin Random House)

Excerpted from Sensual Faith by Lyvonne Briggs. Copyright © 2023 by Lyvonne Briggs, with a foreword by Briana Boyd, PhD. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Reclaiming Autonomy

For those of us who were raised within a merit-based worthiness system, we were deemed valuable only as long as we were achieving, producing, or succeeding. We were taught that if we did not serve or please people, we would not receive love. We believed that only our hyper-achievement made us worthy of acceptance. This individualized pressure leads to hyper-productivity in Black Women. In Sisters in the Wilderness: The Challenge of Womanist God-Talk, Delores S. Williams identifies that Black women’s bodies have always been tied to production. Our enslaved foremothers were forced to procreate because any children they have were considered more property, and thus income, for enslavers. Subsequently, in this country, Black women have a history of being appraised for their labor. The residual effects of chattel slavery continue to trickle down into our interactions today.

We are not businesses. We are not profits. We are people; people who have, disturbingly, inherited a legacy of capitalism that deceives us into thinking that our worthiness is inextricably linked to our productivity. Let me remind you, beloved ones. You are inherently worthy. Worthy is not something you do. Worthy is something you are. You are not your business. You are not your busyness. You are a human being. And now is the perfect time to get back to being, for being is enough. 

If you happen to struggle with feelings of unworthiness, know that you are not to blame. We live in a society that categorizes and hierarchizes people based on race, class, gender, sexuality, and status. And while we are taking the right steps to transform biases into blessings, we still have work to do with reclaiming our bodily autonomy. Williams asserts that womanist theology is exactly what we need to see God and ourselves more fully: 

Womanist theology is a prophetic voice concerned about the well-being of the entire African American community, male and female, adults and children. Womanist theology attempts to help black women see, affirm, and have confidence in the importance of their experience and faith in the African American community. Womanist theology challenges all oppressive forces impediing black women’s struggle for survival and for the development of a positive, productive quality life conducive to women’s and the family’s freedom and well-being. Womanist theology opposes all oppression based on race, sex, class, sexual preference, physical ability, and caste.

We were not created to serve capitalism. Our bodies are not entities outside of ourselves that we need to “beat into submission” or “die to daily.” Our body-temples are divinely designed to restore themselves, but we must rest in order to do so. For rest is not a reward…it is our birthright. And rest helps us to indulge in soft sacred spaces where we are reminded that we are intrinsically worthy of love, concern, care, and pleasure. When we awaken to pleasure, then (and only then) can we show up fully in our body-temples.

How Sensuality Evolves One’s View of Self

One online dictionary defines sensuality as “unrestrained indulgence in sensual pleasures,” “lewdness,” and “unchastity.” I define sensuality as “the mindful practice of being aware of your present experiences.” Sensuality is the ultimate practice of mindfulness. Being present in our bodies invites us to get grounded and curious. While we may not have been alive during ancient biblical days, we are alive now, and our bodies are living epistles: moving, breathing, growing sacred texts that proffer insight into our deep, transformational, healing journeys. 

Womanist ethicist Rev.Dr. Katie Geneva Cannon discusses the importance of retrieving Black women’s literary traditions for the purpose of uncovering the values by which Black women lived with moral courage in the context of racist, sexist, and gender oppression. In Katie’s Canon: Womanism and the Soul of the Black Community, Cannon argues that “Black women are taught what is to be endured and how to endure the harsh, cruel, inhumane exigencies of life.” 

I called this lived condition moortydom. “Moortydom” is a blend of “martydom” (suffering—even unto death, for a presumbaly noble cause) and “moor” (a northwestern African Muslim ethnic group; for all intents and purposes—African-descended/Black). Black women have continously sacrificed themselves for the greater “good.” Anything that celebrates and honors Black women’s bodies is anti-moortydom. Thanks to a rising consciousness around culture and ethnic heritage, as well as an increase in digital platforms that creatives use to display stunning images of diverse women, there is a global rise in amplifying Afrocentric beauty. Eurocentric standards of beauty are being obliterated, and that is offering a whole generation of Black girls the beautiful gifts of being seen and affirmed. I’m thinking of sonic love letters like Sesame Street’s “I Love My Hair” and Beyoncé’s “Brown Skin Girl,” artistic offerings that celebrate our most precious minis from their earliest moments.

I’m a Grown Woman

People may think that I am a body- and sex-positive pastor just because I want to have sex. First, I don’t need to be a body- and sex-positive pastor to want to have sex. Embracing my sexuality makes me human, not a ho.* Second, I do want to have extremely pleasurable, healthy, consensual, mind-blowing, life-giving sex. Third, you can’t jump to sex-positive without first being body-positive. And that’s where most of us have been stuck…until now!

Now is the perfect time to honor that your body is holy. Sacred. Good…Just as it is!

Reflect:

The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing! (Zephaniah 3:17)

Celebrate:

After taking a shower or bath, moisturize yourself from head to toe with lotion, oil, or cream (and take the time to really appreciate each nook and cranny). Maybe even kiss or say (or sing!) “I love you” to each body part. This will help you to really see your body as tender and sacred, even in simple everyday life. 

Affirm:

I was born worthy.

I am worthy just by being.

I am enough.

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*There’s nothing wrong with being a ho, either. We don’t do slutshaming over here. Just be ethical about your “ish.”