A couple of weeks ago I was at the funeral of a family member. He lived a arduous yet full life.
While I stood there listening to the deacon speak, I thought of my loved ones who have died already. Not with sadness as they all died of old age, but rather with love and reverence.
The tent is just a body. Happiness is the pathway of truth.
Out of context this may sound weird, but the deacon's words touched me profoundly.
Despite being raised Catholic, it is been a while since I lost faith. To be honest, I do not know if I ever truly had it...or if I ever understood its value until recently.
However, I always enjoyed the beauty and silence of a church. And because I am a wording aficionado, I never remain indifferent to powerful messages. Like the one I heard that day.
Aside my non-belief in a Christian God, I do believe in a higher power. A kind of energy that connect us all to each other. And I do believe in the power of change and transformation, both on individual and collective levels.
In this speech, the deacon talked about the body, the soul and the spirit. Through the words of S. Paulo where he refers to our body as a tent, he meant to remind us of our own fragility and mortality. We walk on earth inhabiting a temporary tent (our body) whose inside's keeper (our soul) holds the key to our salvation (our spirit).
Here salvation can be interpreted in a religious way, meaning our entry into God's Kingdom after death for eternity. As it can also be seen from a more terrestrial perspective.
During our brief time on earth, we have this incredible tent who sustains all kinds of thunderstorms. We must treat our tent with the respect and honor it deserves. For being our shield to the outside world as much as the guardian of our inner treasure.
When we attend to our tent, we are at the same time nurturing our inside world. We are bringing our treasure from darkness to the light and filling it in with gold, jewels, valuable goods.
In other words, we are expanding our soul by feeding it with love, joy, kindness, compassion, hope, among others. These main ingredients which elevate our spirit and make this life on earth worth living.
It may not be Christian faith, but it is faith nonetheless. It takes faith in yourself to take the leap inwards. To accept that the pathway to happiness goes way beyond the things we have and the thousand ones we haven't achieved yet.
In the deacon's words "Happiness is the pathway of truth". And that means, above all, to be truthful to yourself. Even when you do not know where the road will take you. Even when you are still getting to know yourself.
Care for your tent. Protect your inner treasure, but not so much that you stop filling it with goods. Feed it with the best in you and the best from others and believe that change is ongoing. Take a leap of faith and be witness of your own transformation.
