 Are we not more than an odd mixture of stardust in words? It is from dust we were formed and it is to dust we shall return. The in-between is full of words, some spoken, some thought, and many forgotten. There must be something more. Perhaps the purpose of this life is to become flesh, to become fully human. This is the real riddle of this thing we call incarnation, the absurd mystery revealed in the life of the Nazarene. Incarnation, this flesh becoming, is more than a theological concept spoken of with grand words and in lofty tones. It is a messy work, a beautiful, murky, lived reality of blood, water, and bodily fluids. This is where we find life. The question is, do I have the courage to become flesh? And in so doing acknowledge the value of the life that is in front of me, my own wonderful mess, as well as the magnificence of the one standing, sitting, kneeling, lying with me. Through the incarnation we have been freed, freed to be present in our skin and with one another, freed to be so much more than a collection of dust and words, freed to become flesh.