Honoring the Body

March 22, 2023

Does how we use our bodies matter theologically? According to guest Joey Schlabs, the answer is a definitive “yes!” In this episode, Micki Ann dialogues with Joey about embodied spirituality and the why and how of making embodied choices.

Between his academic interest in unexplored topics in the church and his curiosity about the theology of everyday life, Joey has spent more than five years researching the sacred importance of our physical bodies. He explains that humans were made to have embodied presence (physically dwelling with God) and embodied attention (purposefully interacting with the physical world). Within these two paradigms, we are tasked with making choices about how to be present and attentive in the here and now. How we make these decisions is a spiritual discipline that shapes and prepares us for eternity with God.

Listen in as Joey and Micki Ann discuss what embodied spirituality has to say about technology and how he and his family engage these ideas in their daily lives.

 

Jump Through the Conversation

  •  [0:58] Introduction to Joey Schlabs

  • [5:38] How Joey came to focus on this topic

  • [9:12] Defining “embodied spirituality” 

  • [13:21] Embodied presence

  • [16:18] Embodied attention

  • [23:22] The “Garden to City” paradigm

  • [27:22] Babel, Babylon, and the rival city

  • [30:52] Technology as relief from our physical burdens

  • [41:33] Making embodied choices

  • [48:38] The science of the brain following the body

  • [52:27] The habitude of embodied choices

  • [56:58] Joey’s experience doing spiritual disciplines in community

  • [1:00:07] Final thoughts and book recommendations

 

Links and Resources

 

A resource of the Chattanooga House of Prayer