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By Reed Fowler
When I think of “future church”, I dream of embodied Church.
Where we take seriously that our God is an incarnate God.
Incarnate – incarnation – embodied in flesh.
Like God’s. Like ours.
Dancing, swaying, moving, crying, laughing, feeling, being together, being with God.
In our bodies, with our aches and pains and histories, holy and beloved and good as we are.
Worshipping with our whole selves. Water splashing. Giving and receiving. This is my body.
Paying attention to our heartbeats, our desires, our dreams, our fears.
Heartbeats in-rhythm with God.
I have spent much of my life in alienation with my body, ignoring it (ignoring myself).
But how does that worship an incarnate God?
How does that honor an incarnate God?
I now dream of silliness, I dream of dancing, I know that my heartbeat echoes Creation.
Our growth and transformation echo the trees and the algae and the mushrooms and the birds.
God, shape us to your flesh. To your grace.
How do we love our bodies? How do we love our neighbors? How do we love Creation?
How do we love an incarnate God, if not through our own incarnate flesh?
Image Description: A Photo of Reed Fowler smiling, with the ELM logo along with the words: Future Church
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