The imperfect body of Christ

“The disabled God embodies practical interdependence, not simply willing to be interrelated from a position of power, but depending on it from a position of need.” –Dr. Nancy L. Eiesland

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14

The word became flesh…

Maybe it’s because we’ve been told our flesh is full of bad intentions and can’t be trusted…

Maybe it’s because we hate our decaying, clumsy, imperfect, overweight-underweight-never the right weight, oily-skinned, acne-filled, prone to a zit break out body…

Maybe it’s because we’ve been lied to about what a perfect body looks like, and that’s just never going to be me, but I’ll keep working out, buying the creams, eating the protein bars and doing my intermittent fasting because I’d rather keep lying to myself than accept this body…

Maybe it’s because I fear the frailty of a body that can become sick and have been told that sick and frail bodies are not as important as strong and healthy ones…

Maybe it’s because bodies are instruments of seduction, temptation and desire and only the pure and holy are the ones who restrict, hide, cover, oppress, suppress and ignore the body…

Maybe it’s because we’ve been told that the spirit-(the disembodied, esoteric, metaphysical, transcendent part of us) is more important than the primal, practical, gross flesh part of us…

Maybe it’s because the body keeps the score…it remembers the trauma like a living memorial of the pain that will not go away no matter how much we numb it…

Maybe that’s why Jesus made his dwelling among us with his flesh. Because while we may be grossed out by our physicality full of fluids, secretions, grossness, imperfections and neediness-God became decaying flesh because God-self knew something about the flesh we didn’t. Or maybe it is the other way around-God did not know what it is like to carry a body that needs pee breaks, that sweats and smells and gets blisters; a body that can swell from water retention and can crack in dry weather. Maybe, it wasn’t salvation that Christ came in body form but for exploration. And in this exploration, God became empathetic and understanding…maybe Christ learned from us and affirmed that our bodies, just as they exist, truly are ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’. His exit out of this earth, with scars in his hands and feet, says everything about a God who could have left this earth with a perfect body…but didn’t. 

(Advent reflection I wrote and shared on December 11, 2022 with Cypher Table church)

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