A Reflection from Suhasini Avula
The Episcopal Church Women held their annual meeting and retreat this past weekend, October 18-19, 2024, at Lasalle Retreat Center in Glencoe, MO. Canon Whitney Rice presided and presented a program she created called Sacred Body. We discussed American Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy, had Bible study and wrote a Creed of Women’s Living Incarnation as well as a Covenant of Women’s Living Incarnation. We took a deeper look at the Nicene Creed and imagined the voices of its authors. Most of our time was spent recalling what we have been taught to believe about our bodies as women with intimate time to share with one another in a small group setting. We even discussed how Jesus used His body in a passage from Mark 5:21-43. It was a time of deep reflection within a safe environment and provided balms of healing through our sharing. God was definitely in our midst, and I can only speak for myself; but I left the retreat feeling empowered knowing that even through challenging times I can choose to believe that I am beloved and adored by God and that I am enough; just as I am.
-Suhasini Avula
A Reflection from The Rev. Canon Whitney Rice
It truly was a blessing to spend time with women from across the diocese, exploring what our culture tells us about our bodies versus what God tells us. I find it tragic that Christianity, despite calling ourselves the Body of Christ, has almost nothing to say about the body hatred that pervades our culture. Women, men, non-binary people and folks of all gender expressions are constantly told by multi-billion dollar industries that their physical selves are wrong and not enough. Size, shape, age, ability, race or ethnicity, single or partnered or married, with children or without—culture always has a way to make you feel less than. So we got together to ask what God has to say about the sacredness of our bodies. And God showed up.
In Psalm 139, we read:
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I will thank you because I am marvelously made; |
It might seem strange to describe a set of texts as old as the Bible with the modern term “body positive,” but the example above is just one Word of God that shows us how we are cherished in our physical selves.
The women who attended our retreat shared stories with courage and vulnerability, and the presence of the Spirit was palpable. It was incredibly special to bring together the Creed and Covenant we crafted and speak them out in our concluding Eucharist, our time of worship where we are the Body of Christ who is fed by the Body & Blood of our Savior. I always learn more than I teach at these gatherings, and I continue to have my mind and heart expanded by the deep wisdom and love of the lay leaders who make up our diocese. The gathered Body is beautiful and powerful and beloved of God.
-The Rev. Canon Whitney Rice