Recently, I attended a surprise birthday party and over the speakers, I heard a melody
that was vaguely familiar.  Beyonce was singing Get Me Bodied.  Apparently the song had been released a few years ago, but I didn’t take notice of it at that time.  At its most basic level, Get Me Bodied is an infectious dance song, so I could leave it at that. But I won’t, mostly because I’m on a quest to feel more aware of and at home in my own body.  As easy as Bey makes it look (at least in the video), walking in the psalmist’s declaration of being fearfully and wonderfully made often takes some soul work.

I have fond memories of family gatherings when I was a child and much less self-conscious.   We would get together and do the Bump and the Bus Stop.  (Yes, I’m dating myself.) And when the Jackson Five’s Dancing Machine came on, all of us kids stopped what we were doing and started in on the Robot. Every year around this time, I enjoy my ritual of watching the dance scene from A Charlie Brown Christmas. When I watch those lovable characters in the Peanuts gang, I am struck by their exuberance and their comfort with moving in their own rhythms.  Some are on beat; others are off.  None of them care one way or the other.  All of them are having a great time.

As I strive to befriend my body, things get complicated when it doesn’t cooperate.  While I feel blessed to be relatively healthy, I do have some issues that give me pause and remind me of the need to be vigilant.  What happens when your body seems to turn against you?  An OB/GYN answered this question in a revolutionary way right before she had a double mastectomy.  I looked at her video again and remembered where I heard Get Me Bodied before.

Sometimes I wonder how Jesus experienced his own body, especially before his public ministry.  Did he ever feel unattractive or awkward as a teenager?  Did he get sick or have to watch sick people suffer and die?  If he did, perhaps he recalled a previous conversation that he had in another space in eternity.  A conversation amidst the Holy Trinity’s lament over a fallen world where he spoke up and said “Get Me Bodied.”  Actually, he hasn’t stopped saying it. He continues to say it to you and me.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.  John 1:1,14 (NIV)

 Your Call: Take some time to watch the videos.  How do they make you feel?  How would you describe your relationship with your body?  In what sense might Jesus be telling you “Get Me Bodied?”