Blessed Is the Body: Disability Justice and the Community of Christ

Encounter God’s love at the borders of our bodies

During Lent, we often reflect on our limits—from dust we are, and to dust we will return. We remember that we will never be able to do everything we want to do, even and especially when what we want to do is love our neighbor well. In this daily devotional, Disability rights activist Tatum Tricarico helps us turn the tables on Lent. Rather than a time of feeling condemned or guilty beyond help, Lent is when we can take a breath and finally say what we have been trying to hide all year: I am human. I can’t do it all. And still, I am beloved by God.

Disabled people have always known that our bodies and actions don’t fit into boxes marked “perfect” or “endless.” Every day, they encounter ableist, discriminatory practices that spell out the limits of bodies, minds, and human connection. In far more than forty days, Disabled people have learned to be honest about their bodies, to love them and name them as good, not despite finitude, but because of it.

Blessed Is the Body invites readers to expand their understanding of God, themselves, and community with reflections and practices for considering Disability justice, history, and culture alongside stories from the Bible about Disabled individuals like Moses and the woman with a flow of blood. Reflecting on Lent through the lens of Disability lets us experience the power, connection, and joy that comes with being honest about our finite bodies and making space for all of who we are—the beauty and the dust.