It surprised me to see all the theological chatter when I tried to look up this poem. In my simple way, I hadn’t seen this famous poem as being all that complicated. Rather, I saw it as somewhat awe-inspiring and humbling that God would trust us with being “laborers together with Him” in the world….
Christ Has No Body
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which He looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which He blesses all the world….”
Some of the theological chatter said it was blasphemy-that it implied that Christ didn’t ascend to heaven in a transformed body…..bla bla bla. In my humble opinion, I don’t think the author was trying to yank someone’s chain. I think she/he/they (there’s some debate on authorship) was trying to make a significant, complex, mind-boggling mystery real, tangible and practical to those of us without MDvs.
A friend’s blog posed the question recently, “What are you praying for?” I guess I am praying to recognize Christ in the many ways He shows up- not just in the Bible, or in church, but at work, in the grocery store, on the street, on the docks, at friend’s houses, in the people I meet each day. I am praying to reflect to those He connects me with that their lives have value because He made them with a purpose and has plans for their good! I am praying to learn to live out my faith in ways that reflect the miracle that God uses broken human beings to help make grace real. I am praying that I will learn to be part of the solution and not the problem in the lives of those I am called to love….As I seek to be present in the moment with some friends facing difficult transitions, I pray above anything, “God, teach me to love.”
Jewels in the Ashes 