Body and Spirit

 
      I'm in this Intro to Journalism class and I had to interview few people. One of my questions was:

What is something you work towards everyday?

      And one of my friends that I interviewed answered that he aims to do well in school and also reach his highest potential in his physique.

     It's an admirable thing to work towards but it made me think of something I've been taught over and over again in my culture. We are not this body. We're the soul.

So it made me think how much time and effort he spends in working on something that will eventually no longer exist. When we die, this body is left but we still exist and that's because we're not defined by the body but the living spirit that gives life to the body we have, made of earthly elements. The body and spirit are two different things but we simply cannot say that our bodies define us because that would mean we no longer exist when our bodies begin to disintegrate and die. We are eternal beings and we can only be defined by that living spirit within us.

So then why do we put so much time and effort on our body rather than the spirit? Wouldn't it be a complete waste of time to spend so much time on something that is temporary and ignore what is permanent?

The body and the spirit. Its interesting to think about.