An Embodied Discipleship: A conversation with Jennifer C. Lane

This conversation with Jennifer was especially meaningful to me because it explores embodiment, a pillar of my personal spirituality. Jennifer beautifully explains how our ordinances teach us the necessity of embodiment in discipleship. We perform ordinances with our bodies to symbolize that the spiritual journey requires more than intellectual belief—it calls for our whole selves. As Jennifer says, “Salvation isn’t a mental assent to a concept”; it is a lived journey that engages body, heart, mind, and spirit.

I was deeply moved by how Christ-centered this conversation felt. Jennifer helps us see how the ordinances of the restored gospel invite us into the sacred process of “putting on Christ.” We discuss how our will and desires part the veil, allowing God’s power to flow into us and truly transform us. We also reflect on the garment of the holy priesthood as another profound symbol of embodiment—one that teaches us about our divine identity and mission.

I hope this conversation inspires you to embrace this incredible gift God is offering us with your whole self and ignites a fire in you to take part in this great work of gathering Israel. I know it did for me

Jennifer C. Lane is a professor emerita of Religious Education at BYU–Hawaii, where she taught for nearly twenty years and served as Dean and Associate Academic Vice President for Curriculum. She earned a PhD in Religion from Claremont Graduate University and holds MA and BA degrees from BYU. After returning to Provo with her husband, Keith, she served as a Neal A. Maxwell Research Associate at BYU’s Neal A. Maxwell Institute. She continues to research and write on temples, holiness, and discipleship and is the author of Let’s Talk about Temples and Ritual and Finding Christ in the Covenant Path: Ancient Insights for the Modern World.

Find Jennifer’s book, Finding Christ on the Covenant Path, which we referenced here.

Read Jennifer’s article “Embodied Knowledge of God” here.

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