The Apostle Paul speaks of bodies as a “temple of the Holy Spirit.”
The Message interprets it this way: “Or didn’t you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don’t you see that you can’t live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body.” (I Corinthians 6:19-20)
When we speak about all bodies as beloved dwelling places of God’s spirit, we begin to care deeply about harm to those bodies, both physical and spiritual. We are called to care for bodies that have too little food and water, bodies wracked by preventable disease, bodies bought and sold for other people’s depraved pleasure.
The work of loving bodies, both our own and others, is the work of God: feeding, healing, protecting and nurturing.
This message is excerpted from “Women’s bodies and the body of Christ” by Collette Broady Grund from the February 25, 2016, blog of the Women of the ELCA. Today we commemorate Dominic, founder of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans), 1221. Today is the beginning of the ELCA Churchwide Assembly, held this year in Columbus, Ohio.
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