We affirm the sacredness of our physical being, recognizing that God chose to dwell within the body of a woman. This act dignifies the body, reminding us that it is neither shameful nor secondary. Mary’s body, like ours, was human and holy. Her muscles and blood carried divine life, just as our bodies reflect the image of God. The creator of the cosmos would choose to rely on an embodied creation. Too often, we separate the spiritual and physical, treating the material as unworthy. Yet Christ was born, fed, and nurtured by a body and later broken for the world. Let us honor this embodiment by caring for our own. May we pause, rest, and nurture the bodies entrusted to us. In doing so, we honor the divine within and among us.
May we honor the sacredness of our embodied lives,
knowing the creator of the cosmos chose
to rely on an embodied creation.
(inspired by Cole Arthur Riley, This Here Flesh; Black Liturgies)