I've been both a person with a disability and a person of faith for my entire life. I preached for the first time when I was eight-years-old, though I suppose it's a little weird to count my cultish childhood days as a Jehovah's Witness.

I'm a seminary graduate and someone who has been in multiple formal ministry roles along with having served in other ministry capacities. Yet, I must confess that as I began diving into Tatum Tricarico's "Blessed Is the Body: Disability Justice and the Community of Christ" I found the experience almost jarring. Despite now being in my 50s with spina bifida and other disabilities, that internalized ableism still creeps in and as I began surrendering myself to this Lenten devotional approached through the lens of disability justice I found myself both a little uncertain and filled with immense gratitude.

Lent is a time when we do often reflect upon our limits. In this daily devotional, disability rights activist Tricarico invites us into a different experience where we can finally lean into who we are, take a breath, and lift the veil from that which we spend so much time trying to hide - "I am human. I am vulnerable. I can't do it all. I am still beloved by God."

To live with a disability is to live in a world where fitting in frequently isn't a given. Our bodies our often seen as less than, imperfect, and certainly not holy. To live well with a disability, one must learn to set side societal expectations and judgments in favor of self-love, finding one's body as worthy, and redefining what society often sets in stone.

"Blessed Is the Body" is a book that demands immersion, discipline, and surrender. Tricarico invites us into a deeper, more expanded understanding of God and of self. Tricarico balances Scripture with reflection and points of contemplation. Disability justice, history, and culture is viewed through a contemporary lens and also through a lens of biblical history. While we don't often talk about those figures in the Bible whom likely had what we now call a disability, Tricarico goes straight for it and scoffs at any such taboo for contemplation. Disability is not a taboo way to live. Instead, disability invites us into a different kind of relationship with God and with each other.

Indeed, blessed is the body. Blessed is the disabled body. Blessed is the community of Christ that that doesn't just tolerate its disabled members but full-on embraces them.

I found myself not just appreciating and embracing Tricarico's words and reflections, but I was inspired and motivated to dig deeper, learn more, and challenge myself lean more fully into who I am and to remove the masks that I so easily wear.

While "Blessed is the Body" is in many ways a breezy read, it's best experienced as a true devotional meant for prayer, reflection, spiritual discipline, and a gentle, meaningful pace to experience it all. It's not often that I find myself finishing up a Kindle read and thinking to myself "I want this in print," but that's absolutely my experience here. "Blessed is the Body" is no doubt a devotional that will end up on my bookshelf to be read and reflected upon over and over and over again.

Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic