This morning I heard someone say, "You are a SPIRIT, with a SOUL, who lives in a BODY."
I often think of myself in the exact reverse...which is to say I incorrectly view myself as being a Body, with a soul, and a Spirit. When we change the order and correctly understand we are eternal Spirits FIRST- doesn't that change your outlook on life? We are all Spirits...each of us created by divine and almost indescribable material. Our Spirit is eternal...and will endure in joy, love, and pain, or we will endure in misery, despair, and pain.
Pain- in our physical form- can not be avoided. How we respond to our pain reflects the way we have chosen to feed and nurture our Spirit, as well as the way have fed our bodies and minds.
Watching garbage on television always makes me feel depressed- it has for as long as I can remember. TV shows where people are screaming at each other over children (Maury..."I'm NOT the baby's daddy!), or programs with over the top violence, are akin to eating fast food 3 days in a row. It just makes me sick.
However, a long walk in the woods, or time spent in an art museum, or hours spent reading a good book give me a boost of joy and energy. Why is it I so often deprive myself of Spirit food- and then wonder why I don't feel good?
I think the Body is the weakest of our 3 components. It needs the quickest attention, but it should serve as guide book to the greater parts of ourselves. Starve the body and it will die slowly. Feed it a poor diet and the organs will stop working smoothly. Just as each of our bodies are different (perhaps you can drink orange juice, but I can not)- so are our Spirit and Soul. Part of our journey in human form, I think, is to discover what food is best for our particular Spirit. I know first hand some Spirits need to paint, others need to write, others need to swim, or run, or plant gardens. Some Spirits need to create music, or sing, or make beautiful things with needles and thread or yarn. Some Spirits need to be bee keepers :)
Some people fail to recognize they are a Spirit at all. I have seen those beings, those who do not know what they are and refused to ever look beyond their bodies and their earthly treasures. I see people everyday who have no idea what they are really made of and cripple the Spirit...but the Spirit endures past the life of the body. I know for certain this is true.
One evening, while in the ER with a family member, I heard a man moaning in abject misery just beyond the curtain next to us. He was being attended to, but when the nurse would leave his side (and the hospital was very busy) he would cry out as loud as he could, "Help! Help!", and someone would run back and he would shout about needing pain medicine. What they couldn't hear after they left was his mutterings, which were "There is no God, no more church...next time only gasoline." He repeated this over and over. I knew he was planning his physical death. He was unkind to every person who tried to help him. He was rude. He was selfish. He was also in a difficult position of living alone and being very sick. His kidneys were failing, his legs were full of open wounds. His Spirit was so starved and ignored it seemed to me a darkness had settled over his section of the ER. His condition was worse than pathetic...it was hellish. His neglect of himself, both Spiritually and physically had led him to a very dark place. I actually prayed for a quick passing for him, because to me- he seemed beyond healing of any sort.
I am keenly aware today I am a Spirit first. I have known this for a long time, but I didn't fully understand it until this morning. I looked in the mirror and saw beyond my reflection. For a split second I saw the divine and hard to describe material I am made of. Even more shocking was to look around me and see the Spirit of each person I encountered.
Today I am feeding my Spirit good stuff. Hopefully- if you read this and understand what I mean...you are feeding on good stuff too~
Love to each of you ♥
