God of Wonder, who formed each of us in a mother’s womb, fearfully and wonderfully you made us—
indeed you are making us. With an artist’s touch, you delight in your work, you declare it good and
wonderful: dust and breath, stardust and spirit. Embodied souls. Ensouled bodies.
Help us to delight in these bodies that you have made. Let us touch and feel this masterpiece gently, with
reverence, with wonder, with delight, blessing now what you have already blessed.
[worshippers touch body parts as they are blessed]
You bless the face
For the housing of our thoughts
For the muscles of our emotions
The ways our faces turn to toward our neighbors, singing and speaking, the ways our faces mourn with
those who mourn and laugh with those who laugh.
You bless the arms and hands
For embracing what is sacred
For grasping and releasing your gifts.
For arms and hands that serve and heal, arms and hands that make and create.
You bless the heart
For the faithful muscle of life
For the inward place of courage, faith, and endurance
Strengthen our hearts with love.
You bless the belly, the gut
For taking in nourishment
In some, for the nurture of new life.
For that place of instinct and wisdom, bless our guide our intuition as a way forward in an uncertain world.
You bless the legs and feet
For carrying another’s burden
For following faithfully the way of Jesus
For walking on behalf of others… on pilgrimage and in protest, walking paths of peace,
For standing on holy ground, sacred earth.
God of Wonder, who formed these inward and outward parts—keep us vigilant in cherishing and uplifting
the sacredness of our bodies—as an embodied witness in a world that so often devalues and demeans
bodies—Fill our bodies with wonder knowing that we are wonderfully made, in the image of God, in the
image of Christ Jesus the one who taught us to pray, saying:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever.
Amen.
Portions of this prayer are selected from Lani Wright, Cottage Grove, Oregon and can be found at https://
practicingourfaith.org/practices/honoring-the-body/