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Embracing the Body: Finding God in Our Flesh and Bone
Our bodies teach us about God, and God communicates to us through our bodies. Our bodies are more good than we can possibly imagine them to be. And yet at times we may struggle with feelings of shame and guilt or even pride in regard to our bodies. What is God trying to do through our skin and bones? In Embracing the Body spiritual director Tara Owens invites you to listen to your thoughts about your body in a way that draws you closer to God, calling you to explore how your spirituality is intimately tied to your physicality. Using exercises for reflection at the end of each chapter, she guides you to see your body not as an inconvenience but as a place where you can meet the holy in a new way a place to embrace God's glorious intention."
256 pages, Paperback
First published February 27, 2015
49 people are currently reading
483 people want to read
About the author
Tara M. Owens
2 books9 followersTara M. Owens (MTS, Tyndale Seminary) is a Certified Spiritual Director and the senior editor for Conversations Journal, a forum for authentic spiritual transformation. Owens also provides spiritual direction through her ministry Anam Cara and is a part-time instructor for the Benedictine Spiritual Formation Program at Benet Hill Monastery, both based in Colorado Springs.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
May 10, 2015
I am blown away by this book. Owens has such a healthy view of God (and of scripture), and the way she weaves and explores body and spirit is just lovely.
April 3, 2016
This book is very meaty and idea-rich so it took me quite a while to read since I generally read faith-related non-fiction in the morning with my Bible. That said, I found it to be both enlightening and thought-provoking. I have been describing the book to other people as a robust theology of physicality-- not sexuality, that's only one subset-- but truly a holistic look at what it means to be embodied souls, to be Christians, not Gnostics. Owens traces the church's struggle with the body all the way back to the council of Nicea and to Augustine, showing that the tension is historic and deeply rooted. Overall, I really appreciated the depth of her insight.
June 13, 2021
This is a very touchy feely book and I'm not a very touchy feely person so it wasn't altogether 'me'! I did find it helpful though and I think our relationship with our bodies is a very important topic that Christians have got wrong at times but Biblical Christianity has got a lot of good stuff to say about - after all we believe in the incarnation and we look forward to a bodily resurrection! It added an extra dimension to think about our embodiedness at a time when we have been living a kind of disembodied Zoom existence and have become nervous about physical contact with other people.
May 8, 2015
This book is gentle, wise and profound. Owens identifies something we neglect often and to our detriment: that God created us to be embodied souls. Learning to listen to, respect and lean into this aspect of our humanity is crucial for our holistic discipleship (offer your bodies as living sacrifices). Very worthwhile read, and even more important is that it makes the transition into something we talk and pray about with others.
August 15, 2016
Summary: An invitation to move beyond guilt and shame around our embodied selves to discover the goodness of our bodies and how God made us, meets us, and works through our bodied lives.
Working in ministry in academia, I've joked that many academics seem to think bodies are just convenient (or sometimes inconvenient) means to transport their brains. But I'm not so different in vacillating between being out of touch with my body and its messages to me, and living with guilt and shame, or just frustration at the desires, impulses, and physical failings of my body.
What Tara Owens invites us into in this book is to discover how being spiritual involves embracing the physical being that is us, rather than denying our bodies. And, probably for all of us, that involves getting beyond the discomfort we often experience with our own bodies. She writes at the beginning of the book:
“If you asked me if I was always comfortable in my body (and required that I answer honestly), I would have to say, No . . . no, I’m not. I’m of the opinion that there isn’t anyone alive who is at home in his or her body 100 percent of the time, and I don’t believe that I formed this opinion just to justify my own neuroses.”
She begins by exploring why this is, why we are afraid, how in the history of the life of the church we lost our bodies in a kind of gnostic spirituality. Often, our broken alienation from our own bodies is paralleled by a church body extremely uncomfortable with anything to do with the body, particularly the sexual aspects of our embodied life. We deny that we are of the dust of the earth even though Jesus came and fully lived out an embodied life to death and bodily resurrection. We have trouble with Thomas even though Thomas of all of them knew that if resurrection didn't mean embodied life, it didn't mean anything.
She challenges us to face our fears as we face ourselves. We are neither angel nor animal but live in a space between. We quest for beauty and curse the ugly parts of us instead of seeing every part of us as blessed. We crave touch yet fear temptation and rob ourselves of the beauty of the touches that connect us to others. We fear that desire may destroy us not recognizing that Jesus repeatedly asks "what do you want" of people.
In the third part of the book, Owens invites us toward a wholeness in the embrace of the tension of longing for the holy while having two feet firmly on the ground as symbolized by God command to Moses to take his shoes off before the burning bush and the holy ground. She invites us into a life of being comfortable enough in our skin to pray with every part of our being. She calls us to attend to the creation with our senses. One of the most powerful chapters was on our sexuality as she recounted how her fiance invited her into the making of love long before they consummated that love in physical intimacy. She encourages us to own our sexual history, and that of our families, and offer all of this to the redemptive care of the Lover of our souls. And finally she speaks of the experience of how as bodies, in a body of believers, we take the body and blood of Christ, which she describes in these words, "Receive what you are, the body of Christ.... Receive what you are, the blood of Christ."
Each chapter concludes with a Touch Point, an exercise to help us enter into the particular reality of embodied life we've been reading about in each chapter. There is also a group discussion guide at the end, with one or two questions for each chapter.
I am a singer and recently attended a workshop that taught us about singing with our whole bodies, and not just with our mouths. We sing from our feet, through our calves, our relaxed knees, our thighs and hips, pelvis and abdomen, torso and shoulders, neck and head. When it is good, all are aligned and working together. So much more than eyes, notes, ears, and voices. We feel rhythms in our bodies as well as read them off a score. In one exercise, we stood hand opposite hand without touching with a partner (another man in my case), moving our hands, following one another to a beautiful peace of music, shedding self-consciousness as we moved with each other and the music, ending in a sense that this was profoundly good and beautiful.
In some sense, Owens' book seems to me to capture this same idea, helping us to sing and move and live the Lord's song from head to foot and with every part between. She helps us face our fears with her own stories of fear and the vulnerability both of stepping beyond those fears and sharing them. She helps us recognize all the ways God comes to us in our bodies and woos us to Himself and his dreams for us. In all of this she helps us see that we can only express our true selves through our physical selves.
Working in ministry in academia, I've joked that many academics seem to think bodies are just convenient (or sometimes inconvenient) means to transport their brains. But I'm not so different in vacillating between being out of touch with my body and its messages to me, and living with guilt and shame, or just frustration at the desires, impulses, and physical failings of my body.
What Tara Owens invites us into in this book is to discover how being spiritual involves embracing the physical being that is us, rather than denying our bodies. And, probably for all of us, that involves getting beyond the discomfort we often experience with our own bodies. She writes at the beginning of the book:
“If you asked me if I was always comfortable in my body (and required that I answer honestly), I would have to say, No . . . no, I’m not. I’m of the opinion that there isn’t anyone alive who is at home in his or her body 100 percent of the time, and I don’t believe that I formed this opinion just to justify my own neuroses.”
She begins by exploring why this is, why we are afraid, how in the history of the life of the church we lost our bodies in a kind of gnostic spirituality. Often, our broken alienation from our own bodies is paralleled by a church body extremely uncomfortable with anything to do with the body, particularly the sexual aspects of our embodied life. We deny that we are of the dust of the earth even though Jesus came and fully lived out an embodied life to death and bodily resurrection. We have trouble with Thomas even though Thomas of all of them knew that if resurrection didn't mean embodied life, it didn't mean anything.
She challenges us to face our fears as we face ourselves. We are neither angel nor animal but live in a space between. We quest for beauty and curse the ugly parts of us instead of seeing every part of us as blessed. We crave touch yet fear temptation and rob ourselves of the beauty of the touches that connect us to others. We fear that desire may destroy us not recognizing that Jesus repeatedly asks "what do you want" of people.
In the third part of the book, Owens invites us toward a wholeness in the embrace of the tension of longing for the holy while having two feet firmly on the ground as symbolized by God command to Moses to take his shoes off before the burning bush and the holy ground. She invites us into a life of being comfortable enough in our skin to pray with every part of our being. She calls us to attend to the creation with our senses. One of the most powerful chapters was on our sexuality as she recounted how her fiance invited her into the making of love long before they consummated that love in physical intimacy. She encourages us to own our sexual history, and that of our families, and offer all of this to the redemptive care of the Lover of our souls. And finally she speaks of the experience of how as bodies, in a body of believers, we take the body and blood of Christ, which she describes in these words, "Receive what you are, the body of Christ.... Receive what you are, the blood of Christ."
Each chapter concludes with a Touch Point, an exercise to help us enter into the particular reality of embodied life we've been reading about in each chapter. There is also a group discussion guide at the end, with one or two questions for each chapter.
I am a singer and recently attended a workshop that taught us about singing with our whole bodies, and not just with our mouths. We sing from our feet, through our calves, our relaxed knees, our thighs and hips, pelvis and abdomen, torso and shoulders, neck and head. When it is good, all are aligned and working together. So much more than eyes, notes, ears, and voices. We feel rhythms in our bodies as well as read them off a score. In one exercise, we stood hand opposite hand without touching with a partner (another man in my case), moving our hands, following one another to a beautiful peace of music, shedding self-consciousness as we moved with each other and the music, ending in a sense that this was profoundly good and beautiful.
In some sense, Owens' book seems to me to capture this same idea, helping us to sing and move and live the Lord's song from head to foot and with every part between. She helps us face our fears with her own stories of fear and the vulnerability both of stepping beyond those fears and sharing them. She helps us recognize all the ways God comes to us in our bodies and woos us to Himself and his dreams for us. In all of this she helps us see that we can only express our true selves through our physical selves.
November 15, 2017
In many ways I loved this book because Owens explores a topic often neglected by many forms of American Christianity. I have seen and felt the effects of the gnostic tendencies of valuing the spiritual realm and discounting the physical realm within faith communities that I have been a part of and in larger aspects of Christian culture experienced through books, sermons, and various forms of the internet. It is so refreshing to have someone reason why a deeper embrace of our bodies and the physical world around us allows us to have a more complete faith.
A few criticisms:
I think she has a slightly overrealized eschatology of the body. In the "now, but not yet" tension of our redemption, I think she leans too far toward embracing the now, while brushing aside the not yet. She says "It's time to risk taking God at his Word when he says we are redeemed, not in part but the whole," in response to the line (from what I presume to be the Apostles' Creed) "I believe in the resurrection of the body." This line from the Apostles Creed certainly indicates the spiritual importance of our bodies, but she seemingly fails to realize that this resurrection is not within our lifetimes on earth before the end times. She continues on to say, "It's time to reach for resurrection, here and now," which I find no biblical support for other than maybe the healings of Jesus which I consider to be relatively minor in comparison to that statement. She continues with elements of this theme throughout the book, seemingly advocating for the elevation of the importance of the physical to near the level of the spiritual when I see Scripture as placing a clear hierarchy with the spiritual over the physical. I find the attitudes of Scripture toward the body to be more in line with Romans 8:23 where it says "We wait eagerly for adoption as sons, for the redemption of our bodies," and in 2 Corinthians 4:16 where it says, "Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day."
She neglects to talk about bodily discipline in any substantial way. While I agree that we should be more in tune with our desires and not immediately suppress many of them, I think our bodies are still very much tied to our flesh and not all our desires are meant to be fulfilled. Recognizing and living in desire instead of giving into impulse is important, but I also think physical discipline can be very useful in spiritual formation. She doesn’t address that topic at all, which I find severely disappointing.
Overall, I think she does a good job advocating for the importance of our bodies to our faith, though perhaps in a manner that ends up swinging the pendulum a little too far the other way. A more balanced approach that acknowledges the limitations of our bodies in spirituality and the persistent nature of the sinful flesh that we deal with in the physical realm would go a long way to improving this otherwise excellent book.
A few criticisms:
I think she has a slightly overrealized eschatology of the body. In the "now, but not yet" tension of our redemption, I think she leans too far toward embracing the now, while brushing aside the not yet. She says "It's time to risk taking God at his Word when he says we are redeemed, not in part but the whole," in response to the line (from what I presume to be the Apostles' Creed) "I believe in the resurrection of the body." This line from the Apostles Creed certainly indicates the spiritual importance of our bodies, but she seemingly fails to realize that this resurrection is not within our lifetimes on earth before the end times. She continues on to say, "It's time to reach for resurrection, here and now," which I find no biblical support for other than maybe the healings of Jesus which I consider to be relatively minor in comparison to that statement. She continues with elements of this theme throughout the book, seemingly advocating for the elevation of the importance of the physical to near the level of the spiritual when I see Scripture as placing a clear hierarchy with the spiritual over the physical. I find the attitudes of Scripture toward the body to be more in line with Romans 8:23 where it says "We wait eagerly for adoption as sons, for the redemption of our bodies," and in 2 Corinthians 4:16 where it says, "Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day."
She neglects to talk about bodily discipline in any substantial way. While I agree that we should be more in tune with our desires and not immediately suppress many of them, I think our bodies are still very much tied to our flesh and not all our desires are meant to be fulfilled. Recognizing and living in desire instead of giving into impulse is important, but I also think physical discipline can be very useful in spiritual formation. She doesn’t address that topic at all, which I find severely disappointing.
Overall, I think she does a good job advocating for the importance of our bodies to our faith, though perhaps in a manner that ends up swinging the pendulum a little too far the other way. A more balanced approach that acknowledges the limitations of our bodies in spirituality and the persistent nature of the sinful flesh that we deal with in the physical realm would go a long way to improving this otherwise excellent book.
December 17, 2015
I have been waiting and waiting for a book like this to come out. In the self-help section of the bookstores there is a huge section on 'mind-body-spirit' and how those three interrelate, and yet - bafflingly - I can't think of a single good Christian book on a theology of the body and how our body affects our spirituality and vice versa. Until now.
This is one of those books I know I will be recommending to everyone. Historically, our theology has been so skewed by the Ancient Greek ideas and Platonism, that Christians tend to denounce our body as the den of sin, or deny we have a body at all, and try to exist in the land of mind and ideas. Owens revisits the Bible and the Church fathers in order to recover a truly Christian view of the body.
But more than a theology of the body, she reclaims our bodies as a way of connecting with God. She's a qualified spiritual director, which shows in the prayerful and thoughtful creative exercises (which come at the end of every chapter). I found it helpful to reflect on how our bodies, rather than distracting us from spiritual things, can point us towards God and the gospel.
Four things I particularly enjoyed about this book:
- It is stunningly, beautifully written. I cannot remember the last time I read a book that combined thoughtful theology, insightful Biblical exegesis, practical application and exquisite writing. Tara Owens is a masterful storyteller, and the examples from her own life and others to illustrate and apply her points are stunningly, memorably told. It is rare that a book on theology - especially one that is written for the lay person and is so well applied - is as beautiful as a literary fiction book. It was a real pleasure reading it.
- The creative exercises. So often I find theology books too ethereal, but this book kept me grounded and prayerful with the exercises at the end of each chapter. I found myself listening out for the sound of crunching crisps, and the pleasure of stroking soft textiles, and really thankful to God for my body.
- The reclaiming of the body as something good, but limited. So often Christian books on the body say they think our bodies are good, but then they spend the rest of the book saying how dangerous the body is. Tara Owens' analysis is much more sophisticated, and takes in the whole of biblical wisdom and early church writings.
- Tara's honesty. She writes so much of her own story - battles of body image and ill health as well as sex and sexuality - that it really grounds the theology.
This is one of the best Christian books I have read in a long while, destined to become a classic - I will be unashamedly raving about it to everyone I meet.
*Disclosure: I received a free copy of the book in return for my honest review, which this is*
This is one of those books I know I will be recommending to everyone. Historically, our theology has been so skewed by the Ancient Greek ideas and Platonism, that Christians tend to denounce our body as the den of sin, or deny we have a body at all, and try to exist in the land of mind and ideas. Owens revisits the Bible and the Church fathers in order to recover a truly Christian view of the body.
But more than a theology of the body, she reclaims our bodies as a way of connecting with God. She's a qualified spiritual director, which shows in the prayerful and thoughtful creative exercises (which come at the end of every chapter). I found it helpful to reflect on how our bodies, rather than distracting us from spiritual things, can point us towards God and the gospel.
Four things I particularly enjoyed about this book:
- It is stunningly, beautifully written. I cannot remember the last time I read a book that combined thoughtful theology, insightful Biblical exegesis, practical application and exquisite writing. Tara Owens is a masterful storyteller, and the examples from her own life and others to illustrate and apply her points are stunningly, memorably told. It is rare that a book on theology - especially one that is written for the lay person and is so well applied - is as beautiful as a literary fiction book. It was a real pleasure reading it.
- The creative exercises. So often I find theology books too ethereal, but this book kept me grounded and prayerful with the exercises at the end of each chapter. I found myself listening out for the sound of crunching crisps, and the pleasure of stroking soft textiles, and really thankful to God for my body.
- The reclaiming of the body as something good, but limited. So often Christian books on the body say they think our bodies are good, but then they spend the rest of the book saying how dangerous the body is. Tara Owens' analysis is much more sophisticated, and takes in the whole of biblical wisdom and early church writings.
- Tara's honesty. She writes so much of her own story - battles of body image and ill health as well as sex and sexuality - that it really grounds the theology.
This is one of the best Christian books I have read in a long while, destined to become a classic - I will be unashamedly raving about it to everyone I meet.
*Disclosure: I received a free copy of the book in return for my honest review, which this is*
May 1, 2016
I thoroughly enjoyed "Embracing The Body" by Tara M Owens.
Let me share some key points that I have uncovered that will help me as I journey on the path to wholeness (salvation).
"I’m of the opinion that there isn’t anyone alive who is at home in his or her body 100 percent of the time." How do I feel about my body? If I do not like my body, I cannot feel whole. To be honest, I had not really thought about that.
I need to feel good about both my inner self and my outer body before I truly can feel whole. I think there are many people who do not feel whole. They feel empty. I also imagine that as we age or experience illnesses it certainly is not easy to continue to feel whole.
"Salvation is the work of Christ to bring the whole of ourselves (and also our world) back into alignment with the way God intended." God wants me to feel whole! God wants all of us to feel whole. This is salvation!
"Paul tells us to offer God our bodies as living sacrifices not because our bodies are worthless, or because we are to die to them, but because in Christ we are meant to have life abundant running in and through us." We are to bring not only our minds and hearts to God but our bodies. When we do this our whole self will experience abundant life.
"Our bodies are incredible conductors of messages, both emotional and physical." We must listen to our bodies. They have much to teach us. Our bodies tell us when we are tired, anxious, hungry, thirsty, happy, sad, angry, bored, excited. "It’s time to listen to the wisdom of our bodies."
"The savor of God can be tasted in a good meal, smelled in the scent of wet, forested soil on a fall day, felt in the embrace of a friend." We need to utilize all of our senses to experience and savor God. We must engage the world with our bodies. "But here’s the rub: the less we engage with the physical world around us, the less we are present to reality." When we are not present to reality, we are not present to God.
Read Tara's book! You will not be disappointed. It will help you journey on the path to becoming a whole person (salvation).
Let me share some key points that I have uncovered that will help me as I journey on the path to wholeness (salvation).
"I’m of the opinion that there isn’t anyone alive who is at home in his or her body 100 percent of the time." How do I feel about my body? If I do not like my body, I cannot feel whole. To be honest, I had not really thought about that.
I need to feel good about both my inner self and my outer body before I truly can feel whole. I think there are many people who do not feel whole. They feel empty. I also imagine that as we age or experience illnesses it certainly is not easy to continue to feel whole.
"Salvation is the work of Christ to bring the whole of ourselves (and also our world) back into alignment with the way God intended." God wants me to feel whole! God wants all of us to feel whole. This is salvation!
"Paul tells us to offer God our bodies as living sacrifices not because our bodies are worthless, or because we are to die to them, but because in Christ we are meant to have life abundant running in and through us." We are to bring not only our minds and hearts to God but our bodies. When we do this our whole self will experience abundant life.
"Our bodies are incredible conductors of messages, both emotional and physical." We must listen to our bodies. They have much to teach us. Our bodies tell us when we are tired, anxious, hungry, thirsty, happy, sad, angry, bored, excited. "It’s time to listen to the wisdom of our bodies."
"The savor of God can be tasted in a good meal, smelled in the scent of wet, forested soil on a fall day, felt in the embrace of a friend." We need to utilize all of our senses to experience and savor God. We must engage the world with our bodies. "But here’s the rub: the less we engage with the physical world around us, the less we are present to reality." When we are not present to reality, we are not present to God.
Read Tara's book! You will not be disappointed. It will help you journey on the path to becoming a whole person (salvation).
April 7, 2015
I've been looking forward to reading these words from Tara Owens since she first shared a few of them around a table at a reading at the Festival of Faith and Writing last year, and they did not disappoint. This is a beautiful and thought-provoking book that encourages Christians to get out of our heads and live fully.
March 3, 2019
A compelling and well written exploration into the relationship Christians have with the body.
The author speaks of her own journey and her own forays in understanding and connections with others, along with Biblical study and research. She explores the embodied nature of humanity, considers the embodiment of God in the flesh in Jesus, and our difficulties in accepting the body, embracing the body, and being okay with living in the body.
Yes, sexuality is eventually discussed toward the end, but the work is not one of sensuality or lasciviousness. Instead, it's an important reconsideration of what it means to be an embodied human in a culture which resists corporeality and considers the body more a liability than anything else.
There's a lot here to consider. The power of touch; the acceptance of frailty and limitation; life in tension; and many others. Worth reading as part of a study on Christian anthropology.
The author speaks of her own journey and her own forays in understanding and connections with others, along with Biblical study and research. She explores the embodied nature of humanity, considers the embodiment of God in the flesh in Jesus, and our difficulties in accepting the body, embracing the body, and being okay with living in the body.
Yes, sexuality is eventually discussed toward the end, but the work is not one of sensuality or lasciviousness. Instead, it's an important reconsideration of what it means to be an embodied human in a culture which resists corporeality and considers the body more a liability than anything else.
There's a lot here to consider. The power of touch; the acceptance of frailty and limitation; life in tension; and many others. Worth reading as part of a study on Christian anthropology.
February 3, 2024
I liked how this book made it clear how important it is to be present in your body and not only care about the spirit and where you go when you die. In the church, focusing on the body isn’t a thing. We are taught to feel shame about our bodies and to neglect them. Honestly, society as a whole has taught us to do that. Very few people are fully present and aware of their bodies and the the world around them. This book gives tips on how to be more present in your body and your life and shows the importance of doing so. It brings you closer to God. I like how this book showed we shouldn’t feel shame in our sexuality, that sexuality is important. That’s another thing the church tries to plant in peoples’ minds, that sex and sexuality is bad and that creates many problems. This book also helped me to see just how important connection is, and how important touch is.
April 13, 2022
Brilliant
Since I’ve been young, I have always felt this great need for the church to recognize the interwoven reality of our souls & bodies. Reading ‘Embracing the Body’ was like putting words to a thought pattern I’ve had all my life! It gave a framework to a philosophy I’ve thought for years!
Absolutely a book every disciple of Christ should read while forming a deep desire to incarnate his presence in the world today.
Since I’ve been young, I have always felt this great need for the church to recognize the interwoven reality of our souls & bodies. Reading ‘Embracing the Body’ was like putting words to a thought pattern I’ve had all my life! It gave a framework to a philosophy I’ve thought for years!
Absolutely a book every disciple of Christ should read while forming a deep desire to incarnate his presence in the world today.
April 21, 2018
This book is about how we can connect our physical body with God. After all HE gave our bodies to us. This is such a unique perspective that I have never read before. It open my eyes to new ways to connect with God.
July 9, 2024
I was told in therapy that I wasn't present in my body. That I lived in my head too much. This book caught my attention. It really challenged the way I thought of my body in relationship to God, my fellow humans, and how Christ lived in his body.
July 9, 2017
Excellent. In sensitive, lyrical prose, Tara leads the reader to worship and awe. She doesn't flinch from mystery or hard questions, and for this reason I respect her words deeply.
December 18, 2018
Great! Insightful, refreshing new perspective on ideas that we rarely discuss or think about.
January 19, 2024
This book is life changing.
May 19, 2025
Excellent! I've had this on the read list for a while and it did not disappoint.
I think this topic is of utmost importance for the church and especially for fellow pastors/spiritual directors.
I think this topic is of utmost importance for the church and especially for fellow pastors/spiritual directors.
July 18, 2016
met the author Tara Owens through a writing group on Facebook and was intrigued by the idea of her book Embracing the Body: Finding God in Our Flesh and Bone. When she was looking for people to receive review copies in exchange for honest reviews, I offered quickly because the juxtaposition of physicality and spirituality is something you rarely see in a positive context. Reading it through the eyes of someone who lives with disability and who has had body image issues for as long as I can remember, I found the book healing. The question, “What is God trying to do through our skin and bones?” found on the back cover challenged me to ask myself that about my tired, broken-ish 47-year-old body. I didn’t find answers, but what a holy question instead of cursing my body for what it can no longer do.
She talks of blessing our bodies, each individual part of it, and this calls out to me. I want to bless my body and embrace it, for what it is, for what it can do, what it can give me. I am in the middle of something called narrative yoga to help me do this as well. The stories that rest in our flesh and bone are the ones that will transform both ourselves and the world around us.
She talks of blessing our bodies, each individual part of it, and this calls out to me. I want to bless my body and embrace it, for what it is, for what it can do, what it can give me. I am in the middle of something called narrative yoga to help me do this as well. The stories that rest in our flesh and bone are the ones that will transform both ourselves and the world around us.
January 20, 2019
Sometimes, I am disgusted with humanity, including my own. Do you ever feel this way? Not thin enough, put together enough, clean enough, curvy enough, tall enough, smooth enough… I felt so discouraged that I decided to order this book on inter-library loan, hoping it would help me somehow. I knew I needed soul-help. I have not yet finished it, but I know God is working with me through it. It is not one you just voraciously inhale, but one you reflectively process through. I’m taking a lot of notes, and I love the devotional exercises at the end of each chapter. Owens takes her time getting to her point in each chapter, so that you often don’t understand where she’s going with it until the end. But I’m finding I’m okay with that. I doubt that I would find myself in the same denominational church as the author, but there are things to learn from Christians across the board. So far I have not had any major bones to pick with her about doctrinal issues. If you are a lover of spiritual formation, I’m sure you will enjoy this.
June 16, 2015
This book was extremely necessary for me. I'm not surprised God put it into my hands at this precise season of my life's redemption.
The confusion of an embodied soul raised within the stoutly compartmentalized traditions of Protestant beliefs can run deep.
The union of body and soul was divinely created, and so much of God's revelation to us through our bodies can be lost.
I breathed deeply with new freedom in Owens scripturally grounded teaching that where not meant to be always gratified, the body's desires ought not to be merely suppressed either ; rather we can learn to sit with them as is and in all that they teach us!
Several of her application sections {touch points} at the chapters' close were new, even uncomfortable, for me.... I didn't force it, but found that my discomfort came from a slow releasing self-protection rather than true Spirit-given caution.
A good book to take slowly and digest fully!
The confusion of an embodied soul raised within the stoutly compartmentalized traditions of Protestant beliefs can run deep.
The union of body and soul was divinely created, and so much of God's revelation to us through our bodies can be lost.
I breathed deeply with new freedom in Owens scripturally grounded teaching that where not meant to be always gratified, the body's desires ought not to be merely suppressed either ; rather we can learn to sit with them as is and in all that they teach us!
Several of her application sections {touch points} at the chapters' close were new, even uncomfortable, for me.... I didn't force it, but found that my discomfort came from a slow releasing self-protection rather than true Spirit-given caution.
A good book to take slowly and digest fully!
March 25, 2015
As a kinesthetic woman who has been part of protestant churches (read non-kinesthetic and mostly non-tactile) for more than 30 years, I found myself sighing with relief as I read Owens' book. We can no more leave behind the reality that we are body people than we can hold our breath for the length of the service. And yet, most church services and sermons either deny or downplay the importance of our flesh and blood, often casting it as inherently sinful and problematic (a la Augustine's gnosticism?). Owens writes with tenderness and care, inviting us to consider anew how our bodies can reveal God and how God can speak to us through our bodies. Excellent read, grounded in Scripture.
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September 4, 2017"Salvation is the work of Christ to bring the whole of ourselves (and also our world) back into alignment with the way God intended. This is a healing. This is a rescue. Salvation, then, is not only on the cross but also a reparation, a restoration to health that is progressively taking place. The binding up that isaiah speaks of is this very process, where we are saved, are being saved, and will be saved by a healing God. It isn't simply a moment of exchange but a lifetime of being brough back to the way we were meant to be, something Paul underlines when he urges the church at Philippi to work out their salvation with fear and trembling (Philipians 2:12)."
January 31, 2016
A much-needed exploration of the relationship between faith and body. Owens does a masterful job of explaining how we've become disconnected from our bodies and how this negatively impacts us as individuals and as communities. I also appreciated the practical exercises at the end of each chapter. (Disclosure: I was provided an advance copy of this book but this in no way influenced or impacted my opinion.)
April 13, 2015
This was a fantastic analysis of the many ways that we have disconnected mind, soul, and spirit from our bodily experience. What I love even more is that at the end of each chapter Tara Owens gives readers specific things we can do to reconnect our embodied experience with the rest of our lives. Very good read.
June 1, 2021
I am grateful for the gentle and bold way this book speaks into a much needed area within the Christian faith where the body has felt like "taboo." It's given me a lot to reimagine along with helpful practices to put my flesh and bone body into a more healthy and God-honoring place.
May 24, 2015
Please read Tanya Marlow's review ... she said everything I wanted to say!
July 1, 2017
Owens' style is the perfect blend of memoir, storytelling, teaching, and discovery. Her tone is conversational without sacrificing intelligence. I wish more books were written like this!
December 31, 2015
Wish this book had been around fifty years ago!
This is my "book of the year" gift to young women of the evangelical tradition in my life....
This is my "book of the year" gift to young women of the evangelical tradition in my life....
December 19, 2016
A beautifully written book, thoughtful and meditative, that I'm sure I'll be returning to.
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