In
this life on this earth we human beings are composed of body and soul. We can’t
have one without the other, can’t be human without both. A body with no soul is
a dead body, a dead person. A soul with no body is nobody, not in this life
anyway. The soul is what gives life to our body. The material and the spiritual
go together in this life on this earth.
Both
are necessary for this life. But is one more important than the other? Of
course not. Granted, we do not understand the soul in any way because we cannot
grasp it in the same way we can grasp the body. But understanding this body of
ours is still a difficult proposition. The science and medical communities
still have much to learn about how the body really works.
Another
question that can be asked is this: when living this life, does one come first?
Is the body more important than the soul, the material than the spiritual? Living is the operative word here. In
order to live this life, we first have to take care of the body. That is not to
say that we neglect the soul. It is simply to say that before our spiritual
needs can be attended to, we have to take care of our material needs.
That,
I think, was Jesus’ point when, in Matthew’s Gospel (Chapter 25) he reminds us
that we will be judged by how we take care of the material needs of those who
are in such need. Before we can feed the souls of others with the words of the
Gospels, we have to feed their bodies. If our bodies are calling out for food
or clothing or shelter, for medical help, for any bodily need, we are unlikely
and probably unable to hear any soothing or comforting words of care. That does
not mean that we neglect the spiritual needs of others, even of ourselves,
until all material needs are taken care of. We need to feed body and soul at
the same time, but feeding the body comes first.
Years
ago in another community near where I was serving, the local ministerium served
a daily meal to those in need. The hall was usually filled. Then those in charge
thought that they could also use this meal as an opportunity to preach the
Gospel. So what they did was spend the first fifteen minutes doing bible study
with a short sermon and then served the meal. The attendance dropped
dramatically.
Those
who dropped out, even if they needed that meal, were sending a message to the
preachers: feed my body first. Then, I will be well enough to hear what you
have to say about my soul. They made their point and the meal was served first
and then those who ate were invited to stay afterwards to talk about their
spiritual needs. The clergy got the message the hard and embarrassing way.
Too
often, of course, we not only neglect the material needs of others, we most
certainly neglect their spiritual needs. My neighbors have few material needs.
My suspicion is that they have many spiritual needs. Yours? What are we doing
to address them?
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