Disembodied Faith

Embodiment feels like a tricky word to define. It’s the incorporation of all the different parts of us into a whole human being. Our minds, our bodies, our spirits, our feelings, our thoughts, are all parts of us that are meant to be connected. Sometimes its easy to understand a concept by looking at what it’s not.

Disembodiment, on the other hand, is the disconnection of different parts of us. Often times people split their feelings from their thoughts. They can compartmentalize difficult feelings, while continuing to function well in daily tasks. But God doesn’t intend for us to keep difficult feelings away or hidden in parts of us (so we don’t feel them) while we continue on with the rest of our lives. Someone could also be suffering physically in different part of their bodies, but neglect taking care that body part, especially if they grew up not having those body needs cared for and valued by their parents or authority figures. They have split off the parts of their body that were neglected from the parts of them that they feel are superior and that results in a disembodied being.

Another really common type of disembodiment is the splitting of our thoughts/feelings/physically wellbeing from our faith and spiritual lives. Unfortunately, this can happen often in the church. God intends all the different parts of our selves to work together, like a team. This is why so many times in the Hebrew and Greek scriptures we are commanded to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). Did you notice how all our parts are integrated there?

When it comes to our selves, each part has a different role. But if one part of the team stops pulling their weight (or gets neglected and pushed out), than the other members suffer. Having an embodied faith means the unity of all the different parts of us into the wholeness of who we were meant to be. This wholeness or embodiment is what it means to be an integrated person, aware of all the different parts of us and caring for all the different parts of us, so we are able to live meaningful, sacrificial, flourishing lives. 

How integrated would you say you are? Is there a part of your self that you tend to cut off? Is there a aspect of your self that it’s hard to love God with (that may be a sign that this part is cut off)?