God,
Only you could encase
bone and blood
with flesh, and then say
You are made in our image.
Treat each other with inherent dignity.
What does that even mean Jesus?
Have you seen my pathetic body.
It grows in peculiar and hilarious ways,
until it starts to fall apart.
And I have to feed and water it every couple of hours.
Don’t even get me started on the sleep.
It is almost as if you made us so complicated for a reason.
It is almost as if we each body was handmade with unique flaws,
to show the creative artisanship, so that we can stop and wonder.
God, made in your image you say.
Ok, I say, let me see dignity
less as perfection
and more as embodiment.
Breathe with me God,
Embody with me Christ, I pray.
Amen.
Feel free to use/adapt/Share with Credit to Pastor Katy Stenta
This Prayer also fits into a “This Here Flesh” Sermon Series Resource
The thing I like most about this is the humility of your being. You are beautiful in the eyes of God no matter how odd you might feel parts of you are… I could add lots to the defunct list… the post three kids bladder strain, the heart that’s been sick, the wrinkles setting well in, the hair going grey, but while the world might view all that as inadequacy, I like to think God sees the fact that I live with these and still keep trying as what makes me a good and loyal follower…