Body, Soul, and Divinity

“Body”
The past two weeks, I have been contemplating on the notion of “the body”. How our bodies are so intricate, so beautiful, so complex.
But that our bodies…are also limited.
I couldn’t help but think how one’s body can fully function and
how it can fully deteriorate the next.
Our bodies are an instrument…but for how long?
It has been exactly two weeks today since my uncle, Papa Joe,
was brought to the hospital, and we were informed that he was having heart problems and his body was giving in.
I couldn’t grasp the thought that my uncle’s body and his organs were no longer as functional as before.The concept that something or someone was once fully living, is now slowly dying.
It hit me when I saw him laying there on the bed and his body wasn’t responding. But I realized how even though the body is limited…there is something that ‘something’ within us that is even stronger.
The body doesn’t control itself. 
The spirit does. 
“Soul”
When we felt like there was no hope left,
the doctors said that his body was no longer responding and
my family gave our last prayers.
My aunt leaned towards my uncle’s ear, crying as she prayed and was continuously saying,
“I love you, I love you, I love you daddy!”
My uncle suddenly opened his eyes and started moving his limbs.
My other aunt was on his side and asked him if he could hear her, to hold her hand.
He squeezed. 
The doctor asked him to open his eyes.
He opened them. 
The doctor was amazed, and did not know what to think.
I was amazed…
Though I wasn’t physically there,
I witnessed the illogical power of “love” at that very moment.
I say illogical, because it is definitely unexplainable.
The spirit of love. 
However, three days later the limitedness of the body fully gave in. Though his body remains here on earth, his energy continues to circulate amongst us. What I have concluded is that our ‘soul’, our ‘spirit’, or our ‘energy’, its ultimate desire is to be free from the bondage of our body.
I feel that the Lord wanted to reveal to us that only He defies the impossible.
My uncle’s energy and The lord’s Spirit is always surrounding us. 
“Divinity”
The Lord calls us to surrender.
He calls us to believe.
To believe in love and in
The Divine
 Power and Miracles
It can bring
The human body is so mysterious
The human body is so unpredictable…
It is so limited.
But so precious.
However,
It is the spirit within us that pushes us.
It is so precious.
The spirit has no limits…
Unless it is within the boundaries of one’s body.
The spirit only then becomes free if it is released from our bodies.
But, at that moment in the hospital,
The miracle.
I witnessed the strength of the spirit defying a ‘logical situation’,
a failing body diagnosed by the doctor…
but it was all because of love…
I could not deny the power of The Divine.
Our spirit, our soul, our energy deep within…
Longs to be free.
Longs to be where we came from.
Longs to be with Who we came from.
Longs to fulfil the cycle,
To be with God.
The source of our energy.
Death is not the end of life,
but the freedom of one’s spirit to be with God.
Our body reacts to love.
Our spirit reacts to prayer.
Both react to life as we know it.
It is only when the body has recognized that it has fully loved and been loved…
Will the body break down
and return to its original form
In spirit
In energy
Which
Lives forever.
—
My uncle, Papa Joe was a man of love.
A man of compassion.
A man of jokes and a man of wisdom.
His spirit longs to be free,
Because he,
His body
Has experienced the full expression of love.
He was truly loved
And
He loved unceasingly.
Many people will surely miss him because of his presence, his service, and his love for his family and his country (The Philippines).
For the last 15 years Papa Joe played a significant role in my life as a father figure since my dad passed away. He didn’t say much, but when we spoke I truly felt his love, his wisdom, and the knowledge he carried; but always with a humble heart. As the only man of the house, living with 9 women under a roof, he showed me that
a man isn’t powerful because of his strength but because of his ability to be compassionate.  
Papa Joe was a man of God,
Even though he didn’t know it.
I saw it in the way he loved his wife
every time they waited for each other to drink coffee
I saw it in the way he loved his family back home always keeping in touch through Facebook despite the time differences
I saw in the way he loved his sons, because he was so proud of them!
I saw it in the way he loved his daughter-in-law, by truly loving her as his daughter
I saw in the way he loved his grandchildren, by picking them up after school everyday, walking/bussing and cooking for them
even though at times he may be in pain.
I saw it in the way he cared for me,
For us whom he lived with, none of us biologically related to him,
But all of us he saw as family.
He was compassionate because he forgave.
He forgave because he loved.
He loved because he believed in peace.
He believed in peace because it was good.
He was good.
He was great,
And God is surely pleased and happy to receive him back into His arms.
Papa Joe was able to see the differences in all things but was able to place  importance in acknowledging the oneness of all.
Dear God (with Papa Joe by Your side),
We ask you Lord, for you both to continously watch over the rest of us here on earth and to pray for us. May we  continue to grow “in love, unity, and understanding” despite the fact that Papa Joe is no longer physical present with us, but is always with us in spirit. May we remember the way Papa lived, the way he forgave, the way he loved, and the way he strived for peace amongst others and most importantly within the family. May we adopt a piece of him into our lives so that we may be able to strive to be good like him.
A man of the family, a man of his country, and a man of God. 
Thank you Lord,
Thank you Papa Joe,
I miss you.
We miss you.
I know you are here.
Jose L. Seguerra
August 27, 1937 – March 20, 2013
 
Amen:)

 

5 thoughts on “Body, Soul, and Divinity”

  2. Amen, very well said…that was Tito Joe,loved by all Calauagenians, we surely gonna miss him…thank you Ms.Hannah Pambuan.x

  3. Remembering Tito Joe.
    His word is a bond and his wisdom was golden.
    He will surely be missed.
    Thanks Hannah.

  5. Indeed Joe is still with us, in us & will always be a part of us, “CALAUAGENIANS”. Thanks Hannah for a perfect tribute to the life of our beloved JOE SEGUERRA.

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