On Embodiment
And as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen
Turns them to shapes and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name
- Shakespeare
2024’s thematic focus of the ORIGIN series explores the implications of embodiment as it relates to being a human with a body created in the image of God. We want to explore the necessary tension and the interaction between the corporeal and incorporeal, or matter and immateriality. The reality of our bodies is core to what it truly means to be human. Central to the reality of the gospel of Christ is the Incarnate Word of God, who took on human flesh so that we could, in turn, be reconciled to God in relationship.
Amidst the material presence of other gods carved in stone, it is St. Paul himself who introduces the God of the universe to those at the Areopagus as the one in whom “we live and move and have our being.” With certainty, the Apostle is not simply offering a poetic utterance of vague direction. Rather, a sacred connection is made of both origination and belonging in God as the Creator and Source of all things.
The incarnation calls us to know ourselves as embodied beings with the full faculties of emotion, reason, intellect, and imagination, all of which work themselves out in our bodies as we live, work, create, and communicate with each other. We image God as we body forth ideas, beliefs, and values into this material world.
For the opening of this year's ORIGIN series, Art House Dallas welcomed author, priest, and poet, Malcolm Guite for an evening conversation exploring embodiment. The series closed with W. David O. Taylor on September 19. You can watch their talks below.
On Embodiment
ORIGIN, both the speaker series and the reader, is made possible by generous donations from the community. Would you consider donating so we can continue to create quality spiritual formation resources for artists and creatives?
Order the Origin Reader: On Embodiment
This anthology is the loving creation of a community of friends in hope of transformation and an ever-deepening faith. As with previous anthologies, each chapter includes an anchor text, poetry, visual art, and scripture, and prayerful reflection. We hope you will find the authors, poets, and artists to be wise guides and friends as you enter into a companioned journey of exploring mortality in Christ through the door of imagination.
There is a suggested donation of $10 for the reader. This reader is intended to be used alongside the Art House Dallas Origin program, if you are unable to afford this reader and would still love to participate, please fill out this form and let us know your situation.
On Embodiment will be mailed to participants. Pickup dates will be available in Dallas as well.
Join the Origin Content Team
Each year Art House Dallas staff and volunteers come together to choose a theme and curate content for the next year’s reader. If you are interested in being a part of that team, helping to curate theological texts, poetry, visual art, and prayer/scripture, please fill out the form below.
ABOUT ORIGIN
Origin, an Art House Dallas program, seeks to establish a wholeness and connectedness between spiritual formation, imagination, and the arts with the ultimate intent to establish a sacred perspective on how we individually and collectively live and create. We believe that beauty shown through the arts, culture, and creation holds a powerful ability to form the way we see ourselves, the world, and our interaction with both. As embodied creatures made in the image of the Triune God we must consider the formation of our senses, our emotions, and our ideas. This same incarnate God calls us to be like him in our participation of cultivating goodness, truth, and beauty. There are few things more sacred in life than points of origin. The point from where thoughts, ideas, and perspectives begin holds potent ability to echo and endure through generations and shape how people and cultures both speak and act. How a person interacts with and thinks about the world is the essence of living and the result of a starting point.
