Lord, I confess I don't connect the dots often enough about the idea that what goes on with my body affects what goes on with my heart and soul. My body hasn't always seemed all that important to my Christian growth. But here . . . I'd like to reconsider my body and how it relates to your body, the church.

Would you keep me attentive? I ask that I might be mindful of my body, to notice that just as the stars in the heavens, the flowers of the fields and the birds of the air show me something of you, so does my body, which you made.

I admit that it would be easier to ignore the flaws and struggles of this body I live in, or to stay focused only on the flaws and struggles. It would be easier to just wait to trade it in for a new model, one that is redeemed after I leave earth, but I suppose ease isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Besides, I am noticing that sometimes this body, which is my vehicle for travel here on earth, needs a bit of renovation, just as my heart does each day.

So, I come to you, Jesus. I ponder your body. I ponder mine. I ponder what you are up to. . . . You call me your Bride, your Beloved. May I see the beauty in me that is there because of your invitation to life: body, heart, soul, mind and spirit. Amen.

— Valerie H. Hess, Lane M. Arnold in The Life of the Body: Physical Well-Being and Spiritual Formation by Lane M. Arnold, Valerie H. Hess