Body and Soul

The gifted writer C.S. Lewis once said, “You don’t have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body.”

I think about how my soul is invisible. My soul is the core of my being and it is eternal. Only my body is visible, but it is temporal. I have a veil over my eyes so that I can only see temporal things. I cannot see anything eternal. “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” - 2 Corinthians 4:17-18

I wonder about the beings that are part of the eternal realm and how they go about around us while our eyes are veiled, incapable of seeing their level of existence. I’m sure that if I were able to catch a glimpse of that realm I would be overwhelmed and speechless. I would freak out.

But I long for the day when I will see eternal things because then I will see my God. I will have new eyes so that I can see His face. He will take all the guilt and shame of this life. I hope my song will please Him more without the influence of sin coloring the sound that He has placed in me. No more distractions from His face. No more searching for empty things. No more separation from the ones who have left my side for His because we will all be together at His side.

We grow so accustomed to our skin that we almost do not believe that this life will really come to an end. Sometimes I feel like the life after the one here is a fairy tale, a story I have been told but will never truly see. I cannot imagine what it’s like, but I want to be there with my Jesus. I once imagined Him with glowing skin and unfathomable black eyes filled with raging red fire. Yet somehow they were still filled with love.

I know we must all wait for that day. We must complete the purpose He has created us for here in this place. We must endure “the heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to.” We must be. We must see Him in the beauty of His creation. We must continue on in our temporal realm and wait, ready but patiently, for the day when we will see eternal things.