Muscle Memory

Letting our minds rest while our muscles remember

04/18/2019

John 13:1-15 Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end. The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over. So, during supper, fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God, he rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and dry them with the towel around his waist. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Master, are you going to wash my feet?" Jesus answered and said to him, "What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later." Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, "Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me."

Simon Peter said to him, "Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well."

Have you heard of the term “muscle memory”? Even if you have not, you experience muscle memory in everyday life. When you walked into the church this evening, your hand automatically reached for the holy water font to bless yourself and make the sign of the cross. You didn’t even have to think about it because your muscles remembered for your mind. Muscle memory helps us ride our bikes, type on a keyboard, and drive a manual shift car.  Last Saturday, I heard Tony DeSare play the piano with the Fort Smith Symphony, and he used not only his two hands, but even his one foot to play the piano. His muscle memory stretches from his finger tips to his toe. In other words, it’s not just our mind that has a memory, so do our muscles. And in a sense, when our muscles remember, our minds rest.

I love that scene from the movie “The Karate Kid” when Daniel starts taking lessons in karate from Mr. Miagi. The Japanese mentor says at their first lesson: “Must make sacred pact. I promise teach karate, that my part. You promise learn: I say, you do. No question. That your part. Deal?” Daniel is bewildered, but agrees. Mr. Miagi continues: “First, wash all the car,” and he points to a long line of antique cars. Daniel begins to object, “Why do I have to wash all the cars?” but Miagi interrupts: “Dat, dat, dat! Remember deal: no question.” Then he explains: “Wax on, right hand. Wax off, left hand,” and he makes a circular motion with each hand. Of course, Daniel has no idea what these mundane and menial tasks have to do with mastering the martial art of karate. Later, though, When Mr. Miagi throws several punches at Daniel’s face, the young man easily deflects them with his hands. How did he do that? Because of muscle memory. Martial arts, like all arts, is fundamentally about muscle memory, where our minds rest while our muscles remember.

The gospel of Holy Thursday is taken from John 13, where Jesus makes a sacred pact with his apostles. He does not teach them the fundamentals of karate, but rather the fundamentals of love, that is, humble service. Jesus doesn’t make the apostles wash cars, rather he does make them wash feet. But at least they don’t have to wax them! He says: “If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet.” And notice that Peter objects to this mundane, menial task like Daniel did. But Jesus says in effect: “Dat, dat, dat!” Our Lord wants Peter to develop a little muscle memory so that humble service becomes second nature for him. Indeed, in the end Peter would not hesitate to give his life in service of the gospel by being crucified upside-down. His mind might recoil but his muscles would remember, and do what love demands. Apostleship, like all arts, requires the muscles to remember and the mind to rest, because sometimes the mind can get in the way of apostleship.

Folks, may I suggest a couple of areas where it is more important for our muscles to remember than for our minds? First of all, at Mass and in receiving Holy Communion. I know it can be easy to engage autopilot and just go through the motions of the Mass, and that happens to priests as well as people. A friend of mine likes to say, “Some parishioners are pew potatoes!” Our muscles attend Mass while our minds are planning our next meal. But don’t be too hard to those whose minds wander during worship, even your own. At least people make it to Mass and are physically present. That’s better than missing Mass completely. One said saint: “When we kneel to pray, at least our body prays even if our minds are miles away.” By the way, the Church also teaches that a Catholic who has Alzheimer’s and cannot remember what Holy Communion is, may still receive the Sacred Host.  Why? Because sometimes our muscles remember even when our minds rest.

On the other hand, some muscle memory must be forgotten or untrained, for example, when we have developed bad habits of sin and vice. Just like we may have good muscle memories, so we can have bad muscle memories, like drinking to excess, or smoking narcotics, using curse words, etc. Often we do those things without even thinking about them. That is why God gave us the holy season of Lent: forty days to erase that muscle memory. Behavioral experts say it takes about forty days to both learn a good habit and likewise to unlearn a bad habit. Our mind cannot force us to unlearn a bad habit; the muscles alone must both remember and forget.

What memories have you taught your muscles, and what memories are you teaching them every day? Your muscles are learning as much as your mind. On this Holy Thursday, let’s make a sacred pact with Jesus that he might teach us his lesson of humble service, so that we can love each other as easily as we ride a bike, play a piano, or dip our hand in holy water when we enter a church. And even after we die and our bodies are laid in a grave, our minds may forget, but our muscles will remember.

Praised be Jesus Christ!