On day two of our Advent Reflections, I want to ask the question, do our bodies matter?

In the second chapter of the book that we are reading, the passage comes from John chapter 10, where Jesus wept.

And this is an active and lively debate in my circles – whether bodies matter- because earlier in John chapter six, Jesus makes the comment that the flesh basically means nothing, that it profits nothing, but it’s the spirit that matters.

I am a big fan of bodies and the concept of incarnation. The idea of ‘spiritual’ is very elusive and abstract. This is one of the reasons that I tell people “I am religious, but not spiritual”

It is the embodied and enacted nature of religion that appeals to me.

Bodies, in this sense, matter.

It might be your greatest vehicle to experience divine revelation

It might be Your best opportunity for service and participation

It might be your greatest obstacle to overcome, depending on your circumstances

In the end, your body –  the good and the bad – matters.

They matter in the religious life.

They matter in the human experience.

They matter in community.

So, at every level, I can say resoundingly that the answer to the question on day two, “do

bodies matter?”  is a resounding yes for multiple reasons at multiple levels

Your body matters!