"Gary Thomas has written some of the deepest, most biblical books on several topics including Sacred Marriage, Sacred Parenting, and Authentic Faith.  The Beautiful Fight is another blessed gift from his pen, on surrendering to the transforming power and presence of God in daily life.  Read it!  It will help transform your life into deeper Christlikeness." 

http://books.leadnet.org/2007/11/a-beautiful-boo.html

To hear a sermon inspired in part by some of the thoughts in The Beautiful Fight, listen to Kevin Harney at this link: (scroll down to 11/25/07: Kevin Harney, "God Sat Down."

Corpus Christi
(Body of Christ)
by Virginia Knowles
Advent 2007

 He, eternal and radiant Creator
   Became a human mother’s son, a humble babe
Promised and anointed one
Ambassador from Heaven to Earth
Not in resplendent majesty befitting Celestial Royalty
   But in an earthly body like ours 
A body like ours? 

 Yes, a body!

 A body with eyes to seek out scattered and wounded ones
Eyes that weep, eyes that sleep but do not sleep
   Ever searching, ever watching
Eyes that pierce our straying sinner-souls with gracious gaze
Eyes that shepherd us safely home again
   So angels can rejoice with our Father in Heaven

 A body with ears to hear quiet sighs
  And frantic cries of desperation (Lord, have mercy!)
As well as words profane and cruel, uttered by fools
His ears hear not only what we hear
   But the very echoes of our silent thoughts and intentions
He hears this evidence that we are all fools:
   We need not only wisdom but redemption

 A body with a mind that senses, muses, keenly understands
All beauty he had designed
   Ruined by Adam’s Eden fall: Paradise Lost
All that was, he remembers still
   And all that will be, he already foresees
Untangles twisted circumstances and chaotic confusions
Even when we know not ourselves
  He knows and cares and plans: Paradise Regained
Is anything too difficult for him
   Whose thoughts are high above the heavens? 

 A body with a mouth to teach the way of life
Sermons to the simple and to the sophisticated, parables and pearls
Soul seeds to blossom in hearts of those who have ears to hear
A mouth to proclaim truth and justice

   Yet speak forth mercy to those who do not deserve it
To answer with probing questions
   Warning those Pharisees who use their mouths to snare
A mouth to bless children and all who are old yet childlike still
And this man-child’s mouth thanks his Father
   Prays: “Not my will, but Yours be done”

 A body with hands: gentle yet tough are those hands
   Which created this world we call home
Hands to work hard, stuff of daily life
   Built with carpenter’s nails and beams of wood
Hands to heal, stretched forth in victory over pain and decay
Hands to break the meager bread and fish
   Multiply in abundance to feed the hungry multitude
Busy hands, yet not too busy to embrace a wee child
   To ruffle matted hair, to wash dirty feet
Or to scribble words of pardon in the sand
   For a damsel in distress: no stone thrown

And a body with feet, walking from village to village,
   House to house, soul to soul
   In dusty sandals we mortals are unworthy to untie
Walking on waves amidst the stormy sea
   (His feet are not for soil alone)
He traverses the land, announcing the Kingdom of God-With-Us
   Among those who do not yet recognize his benevolent dominion
He goes to those who will not come on their own, in mercy
   Chases those who run headlong toward the brink of destruction:   

   Hound of Heaven

 Yes, a body!
Yet he did not just live in this body merely as an example
   So we could know how to be good
But offered it as a sacrifice because
   We could not, would not, attain to any goodness in ourselves
A body crucified, stretched out to die
    Pierced with carpenter’s nails on beams of wood  
    Pierced with spear until blood and water flow
Willingly punished for our iniquities, not his own
   (Only a perfect sacrifice can obtain atonement for sins of others)
Then taken down and laid in borrowed tomb, but not for long
Mortal once, yet immortal always, resurrected in power and glory
Walking and talking again among men and women
    So their eyes could see, hearts believe
    What had been foretold from ages past by prophets of old:
God in a body like ours, yet not like ours, victorious over death!
    (O Death, where is your sting?  We are raised with him!)

 Yes, a body!
But where is this body now?
The Son ascended again to his Father’s side
Intercedes on our behalf, pleads for his Bride, his Church
   Whom he purified with his own blood once for all
Prepares glorious mansions for us, a wedding feast for us
   Who deserved his cross and grave and wrath instead
Yet he has not left us bereft as we wait
    He has poured out his Holy Spirit: fill us, empower us, guide us
Why? Because we, we who believe and follow
    Are now the Body of Christ on earth:
Our eyes shall seek out the lost and guide them home
   See, really notice, then meet earthy needs meanwhile
Our ears shall listen to their cries, questions, doubts, confusions, 
   Confessions, prayers, testimonies at last
Our minds navigate mazes and minefields of life
    Solve riddles to serve mankind, strategize, plan
Our mouths proclaim good news, call sinners to repent and believe
    Teach the Jesus way, always pray
Our hands serve and heal, wash and feed, build and embrace
    (Gentle always, please)
Our feet go out for the King and his Kingdom
    Around the globe or down the street
Our body, his body, working together to do as he has done
    Laboring with all his strength under his sovereign command
Ambassadors of Heaven to Earth
Corpus Christi

http://www.virginiaknowles.com/Welcome