BY REV. DORAL PULLEY, Today’s Church Tampa Bay
Scripture: “That which is born of flesh is flesh and that which is born of spirit is spirit (John 3:6).”
Denial: “My body is not limited to that which is from the crown of my head to the soles my feet.”
Affirmation: “My body is anything that manifests in the physical realm.”
Read – John 3:1-8
As a young child, I remember learning my body parts and singing songs about my body. As a single dad, I stayed home with my twin daughters for the first two years of their lives until they were able to name their body parts. I used the same songs that I learned as a child to teach them about their bodies. One was “Head and shoulders, knees and toes.”
Another one that stands out is the Hokey Pokey.
You put your left- in. You take your left hand out. You put your right hand in, and you shake it all about. You do the hokey pokey, and you turn yourself around. That’s what it’s all about…hokey pokey.”
In middle school, I learned even more about my body, including my reproductive organs, how babies were made, and our physical development as human beings. When I took Biology and Advanced Biology in high school, I learned about all the muscles, atoms, organs, and systems of my body.
I thought that I was very clear about what my body was until Freshmen Seminar at Morehouse College in Atlanta. My professor assisted us with choosing majors by sharing with us all the different “bodies of knowledge.” I chose to study the body of knowledge called Religion and Theology.
The second expansion of my concept of body was when I started learning metaphysics in 1996. Metaphysics means to go beyond the surface of scripture and life events to find a deeper meaning and make life better. My metaphysical teachers explained that my body did not begin with the crown of my head and did not end with the soles of my feet. They expanded the concept of body to include anything that manifests in the physical realm. It was a challenging idea in the beginning, but I continued to work with it.
After about two years, I understood that I was not my body. I understood that I AM a spiritual being living in a spiritual universe that is governed by the Law of Love and principles undergirding that law. I learned that my body was the external picture of my soul. My body only expressed the thoughts, feelings, intellect, and decisions of my soul. If I desired to make a lasting change in my body, then I had to start with my soul. Today, I fully understand that my body is anything that manifests in the physical realm: my health, my relationships, and my wealth.
Rev. Doral Pulley is the senior pastor of Today’s Church Tampa Bay, 940 5th Ave. S, St. Petersburg (Staybridge Suites) and 5107 North Central Ave., Tampa.
