About Me

Welcome to A Call to Love. My name is Emily, and I am a Theology of the Body enthusiast.

I found the Theology of the Body in the Fall of 2008, and it changed my life. Or at least, it changed the way I look at my life. As a woman married to the love of my life, surrounded by a beautiful family and the best of friends, there was not really anything to change about my life. I was happy and full of love for those around me and for the world. Discovering the Theology of the Body did not change any of that. It simply gave me a new lens through which to see it all.

I have always loved to read and argue about what I read. In fact, my major in college was nicknamed “The Great Books Major.” All we did was read important books and sit around seminar tables, arguing about what this author meant about that philosophy. So I am a bit ashamed to admit that I have not actually read the Theology of the Body. Yet.

When I discovered the Theology of the Body, it was through Theology of the Body for Teens by Brian Butler, Jason Evert, and Crystalina Evert. My husband and I had volunteered to team teach a series of classes to a local youth group on the Theology of the Body. We did not know anything about the Theology of the Body when we agreed to help teach, but we figured that it could not be that difficult and decided we would figure it all out as we went.

Well, I will certainly not claim that we figured it all out. What we did do was get hooked. Theology of the Body for Teens is a beautiful introduction to the Theology of the Body. It is thorough and inspiring and very accessible. After we finished teaching the classes, I immediately purchased Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body, intent on devouring John Paul II’s original words. Unfortunately, that was an embarrassing year-and-a-half ago. Life got in the way, and I have still only read the first few sections.

That is where this blog comes in! Having read Theology of the Body for Teens and taught classes to several different youth groups, I believe I am qualified to call myself a ToB enthusiast. But I want to move beyond being someone who has consumed the Theology of the Body only through someone else’s words. I want to read it for myself. And, because I’m me, I also want to talk about it! Since I do not think it is reasonable to force anyone else to join me on my thousand plus page odyssey, I am turning to the internet. I will read at least one new section a week, posting as I go, and ruminate on whatever beautiful truth John Paul II brought out through his words. Maybe someone will read along with me, maybe not. Either way, I’m ready to blog.