On Being a Wanderer

As you might be able to tell from my Facebook status, I've read The Host [by Stephenie Meyers] for the third time and it has struck me again with how...how complex this arrangement of soul and body is.

I'm not going to defend Stephenie Meyers against all the people who haven't read or read and disliked her books. All that I'm going to say is that she is a YOUNG author and needs to be given time to grow into her voice and talents. She's definitely got a way with words and if she continues writing has the potential to go far. The Host is her best work and if you haven't read it, please do. I am interested in your thoughts.

I think I love The Host so much because I identify with the main characters. I won't write any spoilers so you're free to continue on [unless you're bored, of course, in which case, go to www.notalwaysright.com and laugh a little].

The difference between soul and body didn't really make a lot of sense to me until I heard C.S. Lewis's quote, "You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body." I realized I hadn't made that connection. Living in a physical world, I of course concentrated on my physical surroundings and my physical part of my being [female, short, big nose, green eyes, brown hair, etc.].

EXCEPT as a child, I knew there was something else. A glimpse or flash would appear every so often to remind me that this was not my final destination. As if it were a secret, I kept those feelings to myself. Sometimes I felt ageless, as if my soul was very old. Other times, I thought about how part of me would never die. And sometimes, I thought about what it felt like to be placed in a body, and how my body was not a part of the immortal me.

As I grew up I forgot about that, until seeing C.S. Lewis's quote and reading The Host. It opened up my eyes and I realized how much I forget that I am not this body. This body was given to me; I had a responsibility to care for it...but it was not me, and not who I am. The soul inside me is who I really am and, instead of caring so much about the outside, I should be concerned with what is inside.

It's weird, being 2 things. A mix of physical and intangible, complex and simple, mortal and immortal. It's odd.

I want to be more concerned about my soul than my physical body. I want to take care of my physical body. I want to be a complete unit but know that there is a difference between the part of me that will deteriorate when I leave and the part of me that will live forever.

God is a very creative and imaginative individual.