Abstract
This article seeks to address the question of how to respond to the COVID-19 coronavirus both faithfully and creatively by exploring theologically the particular topic of the body and the relationship to the other. It maintains that being Christian means taking seriously our human being in the body before God and others.
Its argument is that Christian tradition gives people as fleshly beings an imagination that helps us relate to our fellow human beings even in times of physical distancing. The argument is made in three steps.
First, it is suggested that one relates to others by first relating to oneself, including one's own body. Second, the idea of an imagined body, as complementary to the fleshly body, is introduced to enable relating to others.
And finally, the metaphor of the body of Christ is discussed as a concrete resource from Christian tradition to facilitate the reflection on the topic of relating to others.