Chapter Two - Mind, Body, and Soul

What does the mind mean to a ten year old boy?  I asked that question of myself at that age.  The mind is where my thoughts came from.  I wasn’t sure how they are generated to form that process.  However, I accepted the fact I had thoughts and that sometimes were expressed and other times not.  At times I had pleasing and peaceful thoughts that made me feel happy and safe.  Sometimes there were thoughts that had questions and would require more in depth thoughts.  I had thoughts of doing something that wasn’t right or pleasing to me and others. 

      
 I remembered a time when I would go down to a local Mom and Pop grocery store a few blocks from where we lived.  I loved the Hostess Cherry pies.  Back then in the early seventies the cost for one of those pies was twelve cents.  I have been to this grocery store many times and bought one of those cherry pies.  But on this one occasion, I was craving one of those pies but didn’t have any money to pay for it.  In my mind I convinced myself that it wouldn’t be so bad to take one without paying for it.  The owners of the store wouldn’t miss one cherry pie and besides, they are rich people and could afford it.  Well, I did take one without paying for it.  I shoved the pie into my coat pocket.  I looked around to see if anyone saw me.  And when I convinced myself that no one saw me, I casually walked out of the store and begin to briskly walk home. 

     
 Now on my walk home I started having these intense feelings of guilty thoughts.  My mind went into overtime.  “Wow Kevin, I can’t believe you just did that!”  “You know that was wrong.”  “Boy, you are in trouble now mister!”   While this conversation is going on, I was enjoying the taste of the cherry pie.  Of course I was going to eat the pie.  Why wouldn’t I.  I took the risk of stealing it so no need to waste it. 

     
What does the body mean and how I understood it at this age?  In the later years of elementary school, students are starting to be introduced to biology and more advance sciences.  I begin the studies at a basic level regarding the human body.  There is the heart, brain, stomach and many other vital organs. Outwardly, how I looked, color of my hair, eyes, and skin.  Somehow when all put together, it formed my body. 

     
At this age the importance of my body was being able to run, play sports, and ride my bike.  In order to do that, I needed to eat and drink water to keep the necessary energy to perform those activities that I had some much fun doing.  I understood that my body would tire and needed rest.  Ignoring the needed time to rest would not only stress the body but would also cloud my thoughts and thinking process. During the school year the rest was required so I could perform and do well in my classes.  I noticed the lack of sleep made me grumpy and moody.  My lower lip would stick out like I was pouting.   Mom would say, “Good morning grumpy”. 

      
 Even though I could not totally comprehend the intricate work of God’s creation of the human body, somehow it just worked.  When the body wasn’t functioning properly, well you just go to the doctor and he gives you medicine to help your body work.  It sounds right to me.  No need to dive any deeper into all the sciences and answers to how the body works.  I’m sure down the road it will be part of my education to understand more. 

     
What does it mean when I say “My soul”?  My soul is who I am.  It is the spirit that lives within me.  It creates and forms my personality.  I express my feelings created from my emotions of my spirit.  Things that affect me are controlled by how my spirit reacts.  It creates my conscious.  It’s where my morals, values, and beliefs are stored.  My soul holds the love and compassion that I have for God, myself, and other people.  The spirit is alive even though I can’t show it or reveal it as a tangible object.  My soul is not a religious entity.  My mind and body cannot survive without my soul.  However, my soul doesn’t require the mind and body to exist forever.    

     
I also understood at this time that when I asked Jesus into my heart, it was my soul that his spirit lives in.  There were questions I had regarding my soul that couldn’t be answered.  Why can’t the soul be revealed in such a way that it could be seen or touched.  No matter how hard I try to understand the soul, I would have to accept the fact that some things have no definitive answers.  However, simply put my soul is me. 

     
Even at a young age, I carried within my soul a large suitcase full of compassion for other people.  I was happy and enjoyed waking up every morning.  I couldn’t wait until the sun came up so I could start my day.  School for me was fun.  I was excited to learn new things and come home to share them with Mom, Dad, and siblings.  I went from learning how to count to one hundred to doing fractions, long divisions, and more complicated word math problems.  When I saw other students who expressed despair, hurt or angry, I didn’t understand.  What could possibly be so bad as a kid that would make a person feel that way?  I would find myself drawn to these kids.  I wanted to share with them that they could be happy and have fun. 

     
When I break out the three aspects of mind, body and soul, I’m brought back to the cherry pie story.  For whatever reason, my body craved a Hostess Cherry pie.  My mind worked out a way to obtain that cherry pie even though I didn’t have the money to pay for it.  Once I had the cherry pie, my soul stirred my conscious and reminded me of the morals created and stored in my soul that this was wrong.  However, my mind withstood the moral bashing and won out over my soul.  Yes, my mind, body, and soul were functioning as it was intended to do regardless of right or wrong.   

     
 I still love to eat those Hostess Cherry pies.  And, every time when I eat one I’m reminded of this event in my life.  Later in this book, I will relate back to this time and the cherry pie incident.   

How the Three work together.  It helps me understand what later happened in my life and how the mind, body, and soul were affected.  So many times my life has been affected from incidents and experiences that occurred during my childhood.  With the understanding I had as a child, it makes it easier as an adult when a current situation seems so complex.  In reality, I as an adult tend to make it out to be more than it actually is.