Dear Spiritual Family,
Is there a principle, a Truth, that, in the exploration of it and in the deeper understanding of it, can help us find true peace and lasting freedom? Jesus taught in John 8:32, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”
Two thousand years later, in his authorship of A Course in Miracles, he crystallized one, all-important element of this Truth – “I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.” The late, great spiritual giant, Ram Dass, elucidated our understanding of this teaching when he referred to these bodies we wear, as “spacesuits.”
At the appropriate time we don them in our mother’s womb and at another appropriate time, we set them aside. And hopefully, as we grow in our spiritual understanding, we ask the Holy Spirit to use them to help convey our Essence which is Love. This Love, which is the Life that God has created, is what animates these bodies that we wear. And of course, this Love, this Life, is eternal, nothing can alter It in any way. It cannot be sick. It cannot suffer and It cannot die.
This teaching does not ever seek to demean our bodies. They are a gift that we are to appreciate, respect and do our best to occupy with dignity and grace. Furthermore, this understanding is to help us lighten our minds and hearts as we witness ourselves and our loved ones move through the stages of the bodies’ “challenges” including, of course, the letting go of the physical when that time comes for each of us.
We are not implying that it is easy to let go of identifying more with our Spirit and less with our bodies. The ego is fully invested in saying, “It just ain’t so!” “Of course, you are your body.” But we are not these egos. They are just a part of life on the planet with no basis in reality.
We are Spiritual Beings. We are born of the Divine. And the more we allow ourselves to ask the Holy Spirit for the deeper understanding of this eternal Truth, the more we are able to believe it, to anchor it in our consciousness, and receive the blessings of peace and freedom that is our Birthright.
Of course, we feel compassion for ourselves and others as we navigate the waters of humanity, in all its forms and on all its levels. But the very challenging experiences that we or others are moving through can, in fact, serve as the motivation we may need to embrace the eternal verity, “I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.”
We love you,
Rev. Steve and Mary