Altar in the World

I have been reading an awesome book called “An Altar in the World” by Barbara Brown Taylor. My friend, Dave gave it to me. On every page there are sentences that I have either spoken, thought or written myself. On every page there are thoughts that draw me closer to the heart of God.

The book speaks of a spirituality – Christ-centered – that is seamless with the physical world. For so long I separated spiritual from physical. It was my own holy dualism because I was so afraid that the physical would contaminate the spiritual.

Taylor blesses being human. Well Jesus did it first, but I don’t think we believed him! At a theological level yes we believe Jesus was both fully human and divine, but not at a practical level. To fully embrace Jesus’ humanity would mean that I would have to fully embrace my own humanity - my femaleness, my sexuality, my gifts, my fears, my desires, my ego, my interdependence on others.

The physical DOES NOT contaminate the spiritual, the physical enhances the spiritual. Being human, being physical is the incarnation of the spiritual.
Baking bread,
cooking dinner,
drinking wine,
holding a tried daughter,
serving others,
crying tears of frustration,
walking barefoot in the grass,
working in the garden,
soaking in the bathtub,
loving others . . .

These are the things that make me more like Jesus, not less.