Do you think that your Real Self, your spiritual self, is only your soul?
No - we humans are both body AND soul, so our real self is an organic unity of the two.
Maybe you've heard St. Paul's famous line before - "You are a temple of the Holy Spirit- you are the dwelling place of God" - well, what that means is that the new temple of God is the human person, and the human person is this amazing combination of body and soul/spirit. ALL of you is holy! God dwells in ALL of you! What dignity that gives every one of us! If God lives in this intimate way universally - in every one of us - how much God wants every one of us to flourish!
For the ancient Jews of the Torah, the Old Testament, God's major dwelling place was in their first stone Temple, built around 950 B.C. under the direction of King Solomon, King David's son. On the day of the solemn dedication of the Temple, the Shekinah glory of YHWH (fire and cloud from heaven) descended and filled the Temple, so it became "the assurance of the abiding and localized presence of YHWH for the Jewish people." (Fr. Richard Rohr) But then the Babylonians destroyed the Temple and took the Jewish people into exile, which left them feeling as if, without their Temple, God was no longer with them. Eventually they returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt the Temple again.
This history gives us a new, even deeper understanding of the wonder of Pentecost. On that day, the Holy Spirit in the form of fire from heaven, descended, not on a building, but on people! People from all over the world! People who were not even Jews!
"The message is clear: The Spirit of God is clearly and completely democratic, unmerited, and inclusive......In that moment, Christianity began to see itself as a universal rather than a tribal or regional religion, which is why they very soon called themselves 'catholic' (universal) as early as the year 108 AD. Paul loved to say, 'YOU are the Temple!" (1 Corinthians 6:16)" (Rohr)
YOU are the Temple, God's dwelling place, body and soul, regardless of your race, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, social position, or education. From the day Paul announced this, it was a social and political revolution, unheard of, and it still is today. Paul's culture was not so different from our own, for it was the norm then, as it is now, to show injustice to the poor and the outsider.
In Paul's time, four out of five people were slaves, women were considered the property of men, and Temple prostitution was a form of worship. "Paul levels the playing field: 'You, all of you, are sons and daughters of God, now clothed in Christ, where there is no distinction between male or female, Greek or Jew, slave or free, but all of you are one in Christ Jesus!' (Galatians 3: 26-28.)" (Rohr) Is it any wonder that Christianity spread so quickly! This message empowered the 95% of the population who had been told that they had no worth, goodness, dignity, or power! This message has the power to bring us the same joy and sense of our own dignity and worth today!
What if every one of us today would claim our dignity as a Temple of God? Our bodies are no longer cheap things; they are not supposed to be degraded by slavery or any kind of abuse. Because our whole selves - body and soul - have a dignity given by the indwelling Presence of God, we have a right to demand respect and give respect. We have a responsibility to give our own body-temple respect.
We can claim our own dignity, and refuse to believe or be influenced by the abusive or demeaning remarks that other people make to us about us. We can quietly or firmly speak up for ourselves. We can make our own independent decisions with an inner freedom which comes from consulting and listening to God's Voice within. We can march in non-violent protests to speak up for our human rights because they are God-given rights.
We can claim our own dignity and refuse to give our body away to every person who sexually desires us. We can claim our dignity and not be conned into thinking we "owe" it to people to send them nude or compromising photos of ourselves for use on their computers and/or cell phones. Because our whole selves have dignity, we have the right to demand that we should not be beaten up, and the right to refuse shooting ourselves up with drugs. We have the right to demand that we be called by names of our own choosing. We have the right to demand that we not be denied jobs, decent wages, or housing because people do not like our race, religion, sex, sexuality, or ethnicity.
Because we are Temples of God, we have the right and responsibility to become all whom we are meant to be, to set our own portion of the world, of the Kingdom of God, on fire with faith, hope, love, and all the talents we have at our command. "If you are who you are meant to be, you will set the world ablaze," said St. Catherine of Siena, a medieval Italian woman who was not afraid to say anything to anyone, whether it was a Bishop, a Pope, or a reigning patriarchal noble wanting to start a fight with another Italian city-state.
We are the dwelling place of God - but, do we give God entrance to the most inner sanctum of ourselves? Do we know God dwells within, yet we ignore God's Words and the sacred impulses of the Holy Spirit because we are afraid? Afraid because God wants to expand our vision, our capabilities, our responsibilities? God wants to give us inner freedom, joy, an unparalleled sense of self-worth, and yes, there is a price - becoming who we are meant to be, not hiding behind a limited, "safe", version of ourselves.
Psalm 24 speaks of God's entry into His Holy Temple, and we can think of it as our invitation to open ourselves wide to welcome God's Presence into every part of ourselves:
"O gates, lift high your heads,
grow higher, ancient doors,
Let him enter, the king of glory!"
We can swing wide those gates which protect our self-interest, increase the size of the doorways which protect our thoughts and emotions from God's sight, and fling them open. But this will only happen if we believe in how beautiful and wonderful we are, how alive with God's power and presence we are.
You are the dwelling place of God, His precious Temple! Bow down to His Presence within you, and rise up in holiness. You are worth more than all the riches of the Treasury, all the power of the Pentagon, all the prestige of the Presidency. Just remember: so is everyone else around you.