1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NRSV)
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.

And this is the question I just can’t get around: If it’s true that the Spirit of God dwells in us and that our bodies are the Holy Spirit’s temple, then shouldn’t there be a huge difference between the person who has the Spirit of God living inside of him or her and the person who does not?
– Francis Chan, Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit

Jesus didn’t die just to take you out of hell and into heaven.
He died to take Himself out of heaven and deposit Himself into you.
– Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola, Jesus Manifesto

I am not worthy, Master and Lord, that you should come beneath the roof of my soul: yet, since in your love toward all, you wish to dwell in me, in boldness I come. You command, Open the gates – which you alone have forged; and you will come in with love toward all, as is your nature; you will come in and enlighten my darkened reasoning. I believe that you will do this: for you did not send away the harlot who came to you with tears; nor cast out the repenting publican; nor reject the thief who acknowledged kingdom; nor forsake the repentant persecutor, a yet great act; but all of those who came to you in repentance, you counted in the band of your friends, who alone abides blessed forever, now, and unto the endless ages. -John Chrysostom

Today we seem to have lost a sense of the role and place of our bodies. Many of us are not aware of the sacred space within us, the place where we can reflect and contemplate, the space from which wonderment can flow as we look at the mountains, the sky, the flowers, the fruits and all that is beautiful in our universe, the space where we can contemplate works of art. This place, which is the deepest in us all, is the place of our very personhood, the place of inner peace where God dwells and where we receive the light of life and the murmurings of the Spirit of God. It is the place in which we make life choices and from which flows our love for others.
-Jean Vanier, Drawn into the Mystery of Jesus through the Gospel of John

In caring for others we use up a great deal of physical and mental energy. If we do not replenish these limited resources, we run the risk of compassion fatigue. We cannot fulfill our God-given callings to be compassionate human beings in bodies that are constantly neglected and overextended. How we feed, exercise, relax, listen to, and nourish our boides are matters relevant to faithful discipleship. As Francis of Assisi lay dying, someone asked if he would have changed anything in his ministry. Significantly he responded, “I would have been more kind to my body.”
– Trevor Hudson, A Mile in My Shoes: Cultivating Compassion

Our lives are a holy adventure in which each moment provides new possibilities for Spirit-filled living. Take a moment to relax, breathing in God’s calm presence. In this quiet moment, remember the moments when your life most reflected God’s creativity. Experience the joy of being fully alive. Rejoice in those memories. Take some time to journal about these spiritual high points if you wish. Give thanks for God’s creative presence in your life. – Bruce G. Epperly, Holy Adventure: 41 Days of Audacious Living

And I promise you, yes I promise you, my God, that I shall try to find a “home” and a roof for you in as many houses as possible. There are so many empty houses, where I will bring you in as guest of honor. -Etty Hillesum

1 Peter 2:4-5 (NRSV)
Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

The one foundation, the unshakable support of the universe is Christ, who upholds all things, and preserves in well-being all that has been firmly founded. We are all built upon him: we are a spiritual house bonded together by the Spirit to form a holy temple which is his own dwelling place, for he dwells in our hearts through faith.
~ St. Cyril of Alexandria

Truth teaches daily in the temple when it carefully instructs the mind of the faithful.
-Gregory the Great

God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple: all you who believe in Christ and whose belief makes you love him. Real belief in Christ means love of Christ: it is not the belief of the demons who believed without loving and therefore despite their belief said: What do you want with us, Son of God? No; let our belief be full of love for him we believe in, so that instead of saying: What do you want with us, we may rather say: We belong to you, you have redeemed us. All who believe in this way are like the living stones which go to build God’s temple, and like the rot-proof timber used in the framework of the ark which the flood waters could not submerge. It is in this temple, that is, in ourselves, that prayer is addressed to God and heard by him. –Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms

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