We don’t hear much about that female physique: the breast-less chest.
Following news of a breast cancer diagnosis, at the top of a woman’s pain and fear list, next to the death thoughts?
Her breasts: what will become of them?
Most women fear losing them.
I have a breast-less chest.
A breastplate resides there now.
I have discovered the offensiveness this has stirred up.
Why?
Breasts, as a physical feature, contain powerful associations.
They are life-giving, life-sustaining nourishment…
“So that you may nurse and be satisfied with her comforting breasts. So that you may drink fully and be delighted with her bountiful breasts.” Isaiah 66:11
“Because of your father’s God, who helps you, because of the Almighty, who blesses you with blessings of the skies above, blessings of the deep springs below, blessings of the breast and womb.”
Genesis 49:25
They represent motherhood…
“But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content.”
Psalm 131:2
Aesthetics, sexuality, and femininity also abound…
“Your breasts are like two fawns, like twin fawns of a gazelle that browse among the lilies.”
Song of Solomon 4:5
“I am a wall, and my breasts like towers. Then was I in his eyes as one that found favor.”
Song of Solomon 8:10
There is also the presence of body dysmorphia...
“But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’”
Romans 9:20
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
Exodus 20:17
“For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.”
James 3:16
And let’s not forget objectification/ financial gain.
“…‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’”
1 Samuel 16:7
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
1 Timothy 6:10
Breasts are not just breasts.
So, if “she” does not have them, what good IS she?
It’s not about demonizing them. There’s been enough of that throughout history.
Rather, this is about seeing beyond the breasts… to the breastplate.
Some women embody this physicality.
Being a woman of faith, it might surprise you to know that I did not read Scripture around the time of my bilateral mastectomy: October 4th, 2017.
As part of my faith walk, I read a Proverb a day. There are 31 Proverbs, and most months possess 31 days. Bite-size wisdom.
Therefore, I knew what a certain day-and Proverb- held.
I knew about Proverbs 5, and the possible devastation connected to my first full day without my breasts. Specifically, this verse…
“…may her breasts satisfy you always…”
Proverbs 5:19
For me, they would not be “always” breasts.
As of midday, October 4th, they were gone.
And October 5th’s reality was a flat chest.
Now.
Always?
What about reconstructive surgery?
Why not get new breasts?
I chose the bilateral mastectomy.
I experienced too many cancer scares over the years. I wanted a clean sweep.
No more mammograms, ultrasounds, biopsies, MRIs, chest surgeries. That also meant no reconstructive breast surgery.
I was done.
And I was at peace with that.
I was in the minority with that peace.
Starting with my surgeon, there was already a judgment there.
What’s wrong with me?
Why was I not choosing breasts, any way I could have them?
How could I just let go of them, just like that?
It wasn’t “just like that.”
Prayerful consideration. Research. I took deliberate time to decide, despite feeling pressured and rushed into certain choices by that surgeon.
Probably because there could have been more money made off me, if I chose implants.
Reconstruction is a series of surgeries, not just one and done.
Those surgeries involved money.
I said no.
“Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'...”
Matthew 5:37
I thought that was sufficient.
Not quite.
More judgment.
Why is she choosing to look deformed?
Sometimes, there was an attitude, like I am not glorifying the Lord with that breast-less chest of mine, leaving it flat.
Maybe I didn’t have enough faith to fight for and keep my breasts.
Or worse, what did I do to bring the breast-less curse upon myself?
That’s why my breasts were amputated. I deserved it.
To that, I offer…
“He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.’”
I DO know that my breast-less chest has been an ongoing education and, dare I say it, a restoration to my image in Him.
It is not just about the absence of breasts. It is about what I do have.
My life. Perhaps, even my deeper connection with The Most High God?
All that from a breast-less chest?
No, all that from a breastplate.
Scripture mentions putting on the full Armor of The Most High (Ephesians 6:10-18): Especially regarding verse 14…
“Stand therefore… having on the breastplate of righteousness.”
Breastlessness is a personal experience, with personal perceptions and feelings attached to it.
Here’s mine.
I see my breastplate each day.
Because of its scar tissue, it has an uncomfortable feeling that is my newer chest. It is like an ill-fitting, plastic bra, poking me. There are hard spots to it. There are dents and creases.
My surgery scar line has faded. It now has a white line look to it, lighter than the rest of my skin color.
Scars.
Our Savior has them.
Nail scars. A hole in His side from being pierced, while on The Cross.
To my knowledge, He has not chosen to rid Himself of those scars.
Why not?
Because they tell an important story of what happened. Salvation at the Cross.
“But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds, we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:5
“Then He said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.’”
John 20:27
My scars are not on that level, but they do tell a story. Any scar does.
The scar reminds me of what He brought me through, and that He still has me here, breathing.
The scar is part of my breastplate.
I am not horrified or devastated, looking at my chest.
I am not as bothered by my physique as other people seem to be.
Again, why is that?
Because their minds are not renewed to different examples of “His Image?”
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
Romans 12:2
How are we supposed to look?
Females, in our individuality and femininity, are called to resemble the Savior.
“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son...”
Romans 8:29
Since being breast-less, I have a different connection to my faith.
I see myself beyond female image, as wonderful as womanhood is.
“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Galatians 3:28
There is more to me than a limited estimation of my feminine image.
With the emergence of my breastplate, I have learned more about who I am, in this Faith in Him.
Top of Form
“And to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Ephesians 4:24
What perceptions and judgments are made about the breast-less woman?
Does her value and virtue decrease because of her flat chest?
Do you only see her as an unfortunate, disfigured, maybe even, cursed, breast-less woman?
What if her changed body was a transformation process to embody more of our Savior?
“For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.”
Philippians 3:10-11
Does the breastplate have its rightful honor to exist NOW?
