Prayer From The Body

O God, sometimes I have such big plans and hopes for the things I would do for you and for the world. But often my body makes demands and limits me. So today I pray for and with my body:

that I would accept and befriend my body as a gift from you
that I could take delight in the fact that I am fearfully and wonderfully made
that I would do the maintenance and upkeep of my body necessary each day with energy to keep it moving as strongly and smoothly as it is able
that I would give my body its due, but only its due, not what the clamoring voices of advertising, medicine and critics call for
that the time I spend caring for my body will be a sacrament to you, not just an onerous chore to be checked off the list
that I will be grateful for scientists and researchers who have given themselves to finding cures and discovering healthier practices
that I will be grateful for the gifts I have been given in my body–strength, health, breath, sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste–with which to savor all the goodness of the worlds around me
that I will appreciate fully the access I have to health care, and that I will use it wisely, while working for the inclusion of all folk to systems of caring for their bodies
that in pain and discomfort I will experience the Presence of Your Spirit with me
that I will participate in my own healing when I am taught the ways to do that
that I will remember that I am mortal, my days are finite, but that I am immortally in Holy Presence
that I will enjoy the body You have given me, and will glorify You with it whatever I do.

I ask this in the name of the One who became a human body for the sake of the bodies of the world, Amen.

Prayer from the Body