Faith Practice One: Honoring the Body

Focus of the session:

Through the themes of creation, incarnation, and resurrection found in scripture, honoring the body as a spiritual practice will be explored in order to gain insights for approaching illness and the end of life.

The faith practice of honoring the body seeks to transform our troubled relationship with our bodies to one of honor and joy. Many different avenues offer insights to developing this faith practice for day-to-day living. Study of scripture texts leads to a deeper understanding of the wonders of God's creation and the purposes for which he created us as human beings with a physical body.

Therapeutic touch brings a "reconnection" to our bodies, especially when illness, even a terminal illness, has led to feelings of being betrayed by our bodies. Walking a labyrinth (or using a finger labyrinth) is a unique way to bring together body and spirit through movement, for it is often called a body-prayer.

This session contains Talking Points dealing with topics such as how difficult it is to honor our bodies ("A Difficult Friendship"). We include activities such as Walking the Labyrinth, and Music that illustrates how God's Word was present even before the world began.

Key Points:

• Many forces in society seek to dishonor the body
• We must remember the sacredness of the body while acknowledging its "creatureliness" or frailty
• Many forces in society seek to dishonor the body
• Embodiment is central to the Christian faith
• This is seen in creation, incarnation, and resurrection
• We continue honoring the body at the end of life