Owner or Renter

Many wise men, through the ages, have expressed the belief that our bodies are representations of Temples of God, each one containing a Soul that is connected to the Divine. Comments made through time hold the thought that we do not own our bodies….but rent them from God. Yes, indeed, we may be held responsible for what we do with our bodies here on earth, but overall the Universal Landlord expects us to respect and appreciate that which we live in temporarily.

The reason I am writing this essay is to take a few steps back and examine not just spiritual aspects of the relationship between the body and soul, but also the physical one. We look in the mirror, yet once we look past the eyes that is where we truly live. The fears, the joys, the tears and smiles live inside…just waiting for us to express them. We are all renters here on planet Earth. Where ever we live, our homes may look different, so too our bodies…but, our Souls all come from the same place. As I’ve mentioned before, once we accept the world around us as temporary, and that death is not a punishment, just a stage of life….personal ownership of this existence is not possible. The aging process through life is not an accident….it is God’s way of saying nothing stays the same….until one day the body is cast off and we return home, ageless.

The day we come into the world, we sign a lease with God. Certain expectations are contained within that lease. Hopefully, we leave the neighborhood a little better for having lived on the block. Some are given a spanky shiny new body right from the start….others have much to overcome….yet I am sure what we are given and what we leave behind is taken into consideration. We are not made to be perfect. We all have flaws, yet, each one of us has been made in God’s image. While our bodies may have flaws, we must never forget that inside each one of us is a little piece of Heaven. I am reminded of a scene from the movie, “Birdman From Alcatraz,” starring Burt Lancaster. His character was sentenced to life without parole, yet while incarcerated he did research on why the birds in his cell were dying….what disease were they succumbing to? His findings were embraced by the medical community. His reward was to have more free time to spend outside in the courtyard. A reporter said to Burt Lancaster’s character, “I’m sorry we couldn’t get you out of jail.” Lancaster replied, looking up to the Heavens, “Don’t feel bad, I’m free. I’m outside.” Before his discoveries, Lancaster’s character looked forward to a life of limited freedom, yet now to him, just the ability to feel the air and see the sky was a reward in itself. Life may come down to how we perceive it to be….and though we may live in different parts of the world, and under all kinds of different circumstances, still, we are all renters under the dome of Heaven. We may own or rent much real estate through the course of our lives, yet the most valuable property we hold is the body we rent from God. The house that holds the Soul.