By Joe Mazzella
When I was a teenager I used to lift weights in the morning, then jog two and a half miles to the local swimming pool and spend the whole afternoon swimming. Well last night I slept crooked and woke up with my back hurting and twisted up like a pretzel. While I stretched, popped, moaned and groaned trying to work the soreness out, I asked God why is it that when we finally figure out what life is all about, our bodies start to wear out.
Later when I walked into the bathroom to shave the brown, gray, and white whiskers off of my face, God gave me my answer. As I looked into the mirror, for just a second I saw not my face but the Love, Joy, and Light within. I saw not my body but the Spirit inside it. And my heart was so full that I felt it might burst with happiness. I knew in that second that I wasn’t this body. I was a Spirit full of kindness, goodness, and delight. I was vital, eternal, and forever young. And while my body was growing weaker, my Spirit was growing stronger.
In that second I saw that my Spirit was meant to go through all the phases of life here. It was meant to be a baby, a teenager, a young adult, and an old man. It was meant to experience the gradual weakening and decline of our bodies as we age. And it was meant to use it all to grow better, kinder, stronger, and more loving. It was meant to grow in oneness with God through all the aches, pains, problems and strains of this world. And in the end it would leave this body behind to go on to a place of never-ending Love, Joy, and Light.
Don’t let your own aging body get you down then. Keep it as healthy and strong as you can. Use it to do all the good you can. But always remember this body isn’t you. You are the Loving Spirit within. Live from that Spirit. Spend your days spreading smiles, scattering joy, and being kind. Spend your days growing in Love and becoming who you were meant to be.
