Honouring the body
August 20, 2005 – 9:11 pm | by Duncan
I’m preaching tomorrow at Logan Uniting Church, on ‘helping hands’. We’ll be introducing the work of Blue Care, a domiciliary service provided by the Uniting Church in Australia, Queensland Synod.
I’ll be drawing on the work of Stephanie Paulsell, author of Honoring the Body, and a contributor to Practicing Our Faith.
Stephanie says:
“The Christian practice of honouring the body requires that we view the world through the lens of Jesus’ wounded but resurrected body. His broken body brings into focus the bodies of the sick and the wounded and the exploited. His resurrection shows us the beauty God intends for all bodies. As we love and suffer, as we seek God and each other, with our bodies, we remember that every body is blessed by God, deserving of protection and care.”
Stephanie’s work on the Practicing Our Faith web site has a number of questions around three practices of honoring the body, bathing, adorning and touching.
Bathing
Have you ever let bathing remind you that humans are created in God�s image?
In what ways might baptism be connected with daily bathing?
How did Jesus care for the bodies of his friends when he washed their feet (John 13)?
Adornment as a way to protect ourselves, as well as to provide delight.
Do you regularly notice what other people wear?
When do you pay the most attention to the clothes you wear?
What do you hope your clothing says about you and your commitments?
In what cases does adornment separate us from others?
When does it unite?
Has adorning your body ever helped you be more attentive to God’s presence?
Touching
…when it is appropriate, seeks to honour, not diminish.
Notice the touching in Luke 7:36-50. In what ways does the woman honour Jesus’ body?
What do we teach our children about ‘good’ touch and ‘bad’ touch? How do children learn to respect their own bodies and the bodies of others through touch?
When have you been aware of a healing touch?
Recall occasions when you have cared for another through touch.
What do we learn about our bodies through liturgical acts of touching such as washing of feet, exchanging signs of peace, and anointing?
Stephanie Paulsell is Houghton Professor of the Practice of Ministry Studies at Harvard Divinity School.
Tags: preaching, Spirituality, Uniting Church
