Flesh
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For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that at the last he will stand upon the earth;and after my skin has been thus destroyed,
then in my flesh I shall see God,whom I shall see on my side,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another."-Job 19:25-27
I love these verses, and they are very familiar to me because I say them as opening words just about every time I conduct a funeral. They are words of deep hope that somehow register on the bodily level, promising that I will “see” God in a way I am able to feel. It reminds me that the deepest experience of God will not be through my visual logic or rational thinking, but something I feel in my very cells.
Theologians have written mountains of books over the centuries. People have argued out their theological points, sometimes to the point of persecution. Denominations bicker about who has it right. People of all kinds look down their noses at those they think have a misguided, erroneous or oversimplified faith. I guess it is in our human DNA to try to explain things for ourselves and then to turn around and judge the explanations of others.
But the deepest faith is not about what you think - it’s not centered in our brains. Don’t get me wrong - thinking is very important, and we really value reason in our Episcopal tradition. As we all know, people can get pretty carried away with all kinds of irrational beliefs in this world, so thinking is a key part of faith for sure. However, there is a faith that goes deeper than the mental tenets we feel comfortable agreeing with rationally. Deep faith touches us more deeply than our thinking. It meets us in our core being - in our hearts, our stomachs, our cells. It is more, well, visceral. It’s an incarnated faith - a lived faith.
People can talk all day about what they believe. But when does God really make an impact on the way you live your life? Deeper faith guides your day to day choices, adjusts your attitude, gives you confidence in your responses and helps you learn who you most deeply are. It encompasses our mental, psychological, emotional, spiritual and physical being. It connects us to God in a way that is intimate to our very cells - our very breath.
How have you experienced this deeper, in-the-flesh kind of faith in your life and experience?
