Light Beings

You know, in this book called the weight of glory, C.S. lewis writes, it's a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest, most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you'd be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long. We are in some degree to helping each other to one or the other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them that we should conduct all our dealings with one another. All friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people you never talked to, a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations, these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. Wow, what a quote. And you may want to go back and read that again or watch it again. Because we humans are so much more than the shallow flesh suit, the meat suit we often tend to focus on. The fact is, our skin, our muscles, our bone, our joints, our hair, our nails and our sinew only form a weak and temporary shell that encases who we truly are at our core. We're not just flesh beings. We're not just a meat suit, especially not permanently. Instead, we are, as Lewis notes, spiritual beings. And the spiritual part of us is what will go on to exist for eternity as an immortal horror or an everlasting splendor. Now, each of us has that special spark inside our soul that lights up and energizes our whole body. And yet, so often, we ignore the beautiful light inside our fellow human beings and focus instead on judging and assessing someone based on the shallow appearance of their flesh. Fellas, that girl you're talking to at a party see her as a beautiful and unique light being, an angelic soul with a unique signature spark inside her, and not just some hot chick that you're nervous to talk to. How would such a light being want to be seen and heard and loved? And how can you recognize them as an image bearer of God and as someone far more than like skin and lips or curves or hair or ladies? How about that gruff macho man that you just can't seem to get through to or understand? Have you ever viewed that guy instead as a spiritual entity who's far more meaningful, deep and eternal than just their shoulders or their muscles or their beard or their grunting or their hair or their scowling. See, within each of us are slivers of light, packets of particles and glowing photons. So when I'm talking to observing someone, especially if I'm tempted to judge that someone based on their outward appearance, I try to imagine a blue, ethereal like spark, invisible to the naked eye, that's surging through that person's head and chest and torso and arms and legs. And I try as hard as I can to see them as a spirit, to look deep into their eyes and to peer into their soul. So ask yourself if the eternal spirit is what really, really matters. When you look at someone, do you see flesh or do you see spirit? Do you judge flesh or do you tune into spirit? Trust me, it's a powerful relational shift when you begin to look upon your fellow human as an eternal soul. So remember, we're not a body with a soul, we're a soul with a body.