“If the David were to be tilted 15 degrees, his ankles would fail.”
I haven’t been to Italy for many years, but this news came to me as a terrible shock: Michelangelo’s perfect sculpture of David is cracking. Or at least the ankles are cracked – those smooth and sinewy ankles of brilliantly chiseled Carraran marble.
Apparently, because of natural tremors or traffic jolts, David has shifted his weight throughout the years which has brought uneven balance to his ankles. You can read more in this article by Sam Anderson in the NY Times.
Human ankles serve two purposes:
- Dorsiflexion – the ability to flex the toes backward towards the leg.
- Plantarflexion – the ability to flex the toes downward the sole of the foot.
Ankles help us walk and keep our balance. Without strong ankles, we fall.
If the Church is Christ’s body in the world, we need to consider the ankles. I, for one, usually think about body parts like the hands and feet, the eyes and ears, the mouth and voice when I ponder the body of Christ. I don’t wonder much about the ankles.
If we are off balance as a congregation, if we are a bit shaky moving forward, I wonder if it’s because we need to work on our flexibility. I wonder if we need to strengthen our ankles. What might that look like for the Church?
A Church for Starving Artists 
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Great insights & thanks for link to great article on the David. Powerful.
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