Capable Flesh

The tender flesh itself
        will be found one day
        —quite surprisingly—
        to be capable of receiving,
        and yes, full
        capable of embracing
        the searing energies of God.
        Go figure. Fear not.
        For even at its beginning
        the humble clay received
        God’s art, whereby
        one part became the eye,
        another the ear, and yet
        another this impetuous hand.
        Therefore, the flesh
        is not to be excluded
        from the wisdom and the power
        that now and ever animates
        all things. His life-giving
        agency is made perfect,
        we are told, in weakness—
        made perfect in the flesh.

~St. Irenaeus – adapted and translated by Scott Cairns