The Christian faith is an embodied faith. We believe in a God that chose to become enfleshed, that was born to a woman in a manger, that touched people considered untouchable, a savior who got himself dirty, who came into this world covered in blood, mucus, sweat and tears and left in much the same way. Our story is a story that includes violence and sex (all too often both at the same time), birth and death, murder and last minute escapes. We speak of the importance of the body of Christ and of the importance of each and every part of that body.
Yet we are so afraid of the body – our own bodies and the bodies of others. This fear is destructive to ourselves, our relationships, and our communities. We see stories all the time about girls and women being asked to cover up lest they distract men or be inappropriate. Women are taught from a very early age that our bodies are inappropriate, tempting, even dangerous and men are taught that our bodies are objects. For women, showing too much of this beautiful body God gave us is a “reason” for us to face sexual violence and for men, it is a justification for said violence. The bodies of trans and non-gender-binary people are objects of constant ridicule, feared, despised and simultaneously fetishized. All bodies are subject to being called too much or too little in one way or another. Bodies that are disabled, ill or just don’t fit in our idea of what “normal” is are seen as other and approached with fear or derision. People whose bodies are not white spend their whole lives being seen as less than. Less than whole, less than human, less worthy of life than those of us who happened to be born with white skin.
This fear of our own bodies and the bodies of others has grave consequences for the church. We end up living out of shame and discomfort, unsure of the skin we live in, even though this skin we live in is a temple. We become separated from one another. This deep bodily shame leads us to live lives separated from God.
The seasons of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany are times when we dive deep into the physicality, the embodied nature of our faith. A young unmarried woman becomes pregnant by the power of the holy spirit. God is born out of a woman’s vagina, covered in blood and mucus, in the dirt of a barn. God becomes human; God becomes embodied: we celebrate God enfleshed. The holy family has to run from the threat of death, hiding their bodies in a new land. In Epiphany, we have readings on the healings of Jesus, stories in which Jesus’ body changes the bodies of others. Stories in which we are confronted with long held beliefs about illness and disability, stories about the othering of the body.
This year for A/C/E, this will be our theme. In the coming weeks, we will be releasing litanies, liturgical pieces, scriptural commentaries for both RCL and Narrative Lectionaries, and other elements for worship focusing on the body – Christ’s body, our bodies and the body of Christ. Join us on this journey through our winter season.
Yet we are so afraid of the body – our own bodies and the bodies of others. This fear is destructive to ourselves, our relationships, and our communities. We see stories all the time about girls and women being asked to cover up lest they distract men or be inappropriate. Women are taught from a very early age that our bodies are inappropriate, tempting, even dangerous and men are taught that our bodies are objects. For women, showing too much of this beautiful body God gave us is a “reason” for us to face sexual violence and for men, it is a justification for said violence. The bodies of trans and non-gender-binary people are objects of constant ridicule, feared, despised and simultaneously fetishized. All bodies are subject to being called too much or too little in one way or another. Bodies that are disabled, ill or just don’t fit in our idea of what “normal” is are seen as other and approached with fear or derision. People whose bodies are not white spend their whole lives being seen as less than. Less than whole, less than human, less worthy of life than those of us who happened to be born with white skin.
This fear of our own bodies and the bodies of others has grave consequences for the church. We end up living out of shame and discomfort, unsure of the skin we live in, even though this skin we live in is a temple. We become separated from one another. This deep bodily shame leads us to live lives separated from God.
The seasons of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany are times when we dive deep into the physicality, the embodied nature of our faith. A young unmarried woman becomes pregnant by the power of the holy spirit. God is born out of a woman’s vagina, covered in blood and mucus, in the dirt of a barn. God becomes human; God becomes embodied: we celebrate God enfleshed. The holy family has to run from the threat of death, hiding their bodies in a new land. In Epiphany, we have readings on the healings of Jesus, stories in which Jesus’ body changes the bodies of others. Stories in which we are confronted with long held beliefs about illness and disability, stories about the othering of the body.
This year for A/C/E, this will be our theme. In the coming weeks, we will be releasing litanies, liturgical pieces, scriptural commentaries for both RCL and Narrative Lectionaries, and other elements for worship focusing on the body – Christ’s body, our bodies and the body of Christ. Join us on this journey through our winter season.
