Our bodies

From www.flickr.com

I remember sitting in the pew as a child with the members of my family, squirming and jostling with the bodies next to me -- the bodies of my parents and brother and sisters. I knew I was supposed to be quiet and sit still, but it was hard to do. I was a "wiggleworm", my mom said.

So I learned to sit quietly, hands folded, eyes ahead, body still. Imagine how hard it was for me, then, when I started attending an Episcopal church and the priest suggested we make the sign of the cross with our hand. Forehead, sternum, left shoulder, right shoulder. "Why, that's just Catholic superstition," my mind said to me.

But when I actually tried it, it felt good. I felt I was using my physical body to signify what was going on in my mind. It seemed to integrate the mental and physical, body and soul.

Our bodies are important. Faith isn't just a matter of intense mental effort. It's also something we do with our bodies. We have to act out our faith.

In the reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans for Sunday, Paul says, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."

Coming to church is often an aggravation. Why not just stay at home and read the Bible or pray? But, as Paul says, we have to get up off the couch and present our bodies before the Lord in the holy place. What we do with our bodies is important.

When I distribute Communion at the altar rail, I'm profoundly touched by those who come to receive communion. There are old bodies aching with arthritis, young bouncing children's bodies, sagging middle aged bodies, bodies with cancer, young peoples' bodies brimming with confusing sexual feelings, carefully manicured bodies, and strong athletic bodies. All kinds of bodies.

"Present your bodies," Paul says. Get up out of bed, bring your body to the altar rail, eat with God's family at God's table, and go out into the world to do the work God has given you to do.


-