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.

Tatum Tricarico is an activist, theologian, and director of Christian education at Wesley Memorial UMC in Charlottesville, Virginia. She graduated from Duke Divinity School with her masters of divinity in 2024 and is a Disability rights activist on Instagram (@blind_person_in_area), where she curates a Disability cultural calendar.

Tricarico is a contributor to Wisdom Commentary: Tobit by Michele Murray. She has spoken at the San Diego California Women’s March, Point Loma Nazarene University’s Crossing the Lines Conference, and many other classrooms and conferences on Disability justice and theology. Recently, she has been a co-organizer of Durham’s first two annual Disability Pride Parades. When she is not in the church or advocacy world, Tricarico loves listening to audiobooks with her girlfriend, spending time with friends and family, cooking and hosting dinner parties, and writing letters.