CLICK PICTURE TO RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

CLICK PICTURE TO RETURN TO MAIN PAGE
CLICK PICTURE TO RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Monday, April 30, 2018

You Are Not The Body You Drive

I was intrigued the other day by a bumper sticker that read, “You are not the car you drive.”  In other words, owning or occupying a fancy car doesn’t change who you are.

I think there is a parallel here with our spirits and our bodies, which at this stage of life are only co-existing; just like a car and it's driver.  Each of us is born into a body with certain talents and/or deficits.  Even though we have no control over where we are born or what talents we are blessed with, those who are talented in sports or have beautiful appearances are treated differently and sometimes even begin to think themselves that they are better than others.

In fact, we are not the bodies we occupy.  Our temporal bodies have talents and deficits that do not necessarily reflect the spirits that occupy them.  Rather, our bodies are a reflection of the circumstances the Lord has seen fit to allow during this life for the purpose of our learning.  When we die, ONLY our knowledge will rise with our spirit.  There will be no famous sports stars or gorgeous movie actresses parading past the pearly gates on account of their fame or talents on Earth.

There is great truth in the saying, "We are not humans having a spiritual experience, we are spirits having a human experience."

It is a shame when someone falls victim to what I call the Paris Hilton syndrome.  They are born with so much wealth or talent that it ruins them as individuals and destroys their ability to glean any useful experiences from this life.  I’m not saying wealth is evil.  I'm not saying owning a nice car is a sin.  But you have to ask yourself, are you driving the car or is the car driving you?  The answer matters.

Conversely, many also fall victim to the opposite pitfall; feeling that they are actually the shortcomings of their mortal bodies or that the opinion of others will actually matter in the grand scheme of things.

Both fame and folly are tools used at times by the adversary to prevent us from having the experiences we have come here to have. 

We are all children of a loving God; spirits living temporarily in mortal bodies.  We had no say in where we were born or what type of body we would occupy these few years on Earth; nor does it matter.  We are not victims of the bodies we are born into.  It is our purpose to overcome whatever challenges we are blessed with, whether that be fame or misfortune, and thereby gain the experiences the Lord sent us here to have.

I think we will be shocked when we die and see mighty spirits rise from weak bodies and vice-versa.

Doctrine and Covenants 130:18
Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.