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New every morning is your love, great God of light, and all day long you are working for good in the world. Stir up in us desire to serve you, to live peacefully with our neighbors and all your creation, and to devote each day to your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

"A Liturgy for Morning Prayer," Upper Room Worshipbook

Used by permission from the Book of Common Worship, © 2018 Westminster John Knox Press. All rights reserved. This prayer appears in “A Liturgy for Morning Prayer” in Upper Room Worshipbook.

This Is My Body

Embracing the Messiness of Faith and Motherhood

Hannah Shanks • May 2018

BUY Print $14.99

BUY eBook (Available in ePub or Kindle) $9.99

Kneeling at the Communion rail, Hannah Shanks trembled as she received the bread and cup. Hours before, she had discovered she was pregnant. She heard the familiar words—"The body of Christ, broken for you; The blood of Christ, shed for you" as if for the first time. She remembered Jesus' words: "This is my body." Shanks realized that these words not only describe Jesus' death but also apply to every birth that has taken place. Suddenly, she felt a closer connection to God.

This Is My Body is organized around the framework of Communion, a central act of the Christian faith. Part personal narrative and part reflection on scripture from a woman's point of view, this book is about finding a new relationship to the acts of Christian community through the experiences of a woman's body, including pregnancy and childbirth.

Though the book centers on women's experiences, it offers an opportunity for women and men to consider how they too might be freed in the gospel proclamation, "This is my body; This is my blood." The author approaches motherhood with an understanding of its sacred nature and its profound ability to change her identity. She battles church stereotypes attached to mothering and emerges with a deeper understanding of herself and her relationship to the Holy.


Categories: Healing & Wholeness, Women
Hannah Shanks is assistant professor of social work and director of the social work program at Greenville University, Greenville, Illinois. She is a storyteller and has participated in the St. Louis chapter of Listen to Your Mother, a live reading series and video sharing company. Hannah is a member of Anam Cara St. Louis, an intentional ecumenical community formed around a shared Rule of Life and weekly observance of prayer and communion.

ISBN: 978-1-935205-28-9

Kindle ISBN: 978-1-935205-29-6

EPub ISBN: 978-1-935205-30-2

Imprint: Fresh Air

Pub Date: May 2018

Trim Size: 5 in (w) x 8 in (h) x in (d)

Page Count: 144

BISAC Categories: RELIGION / Christian Living / Spiritual Growth

BISAC1: REL012120

BISAC2: REL012070

BISAC3: REL055000