Body, Mind and Spirit

There is a story about three individuals, Body, Mind and Spirit. They were the closest of friends. They shared a friendship that filled each with joy. A joy that shone like a light from inside. They made choices. Choices that left behind a withered relic of a friend. These choices were despised. They were looked upon as the most base and evil act, yet they were frequently indulged. Indulged....yes, that is the word. Indulged. For the choices came from the Body. Base impulses spawning from the most animal instincts. Impulses in direct contradiction to the Spirit. These impulses were known to be harmful to the Spirit. They were known to leave spirits wasted behind them. Yet the Body wanted them. Like a child screaming for more candy, the Body kept screaming for more. And the Spirit indulged. The Spirit withdrew from the Mind, and the Mind gave the Body the candy it so desperately wanted. This battle occurred frequently, always with the same outcome. With time, it became easy to give the Body its candy, just to stop the incessant whining. The Mind almost automatically fed the impulses of the Body. After a time, the Mind began to notice a change. A subtle change. Something that did not directly affect the Mind, nor the Body, but something impalpable and elusive. A short while later, this change was noted by the Body. There was a lack. A hole. Something missing. All of this time, when the Mind indulged the Body it denied the Spirit, leaving it parched and empty. The Spirit was no more than a withered husk, barely resembling its former beauty. The Body and the Mind looked upon the corpse with horror, aghast that anyone could do this. “Who has murdered our friend?” they wondered. “Who is capable of draining someone so completely?” In passing, the mind caught a reflection in a mirror. Is that me? What has happened?....The Mind looked closer, then looked at the
Body. Both were haggard and dull. Where once they shone brightly with inner light, there remained only a mockery of the former splendor. They were empty.

The two remaining friends tried to move on. But they noticed again that impalpable change. They were not as close. It seemed as though the loss of Spirit had dimmed their joy, their light, their friendship, their lives. With the Spirit gone, nothing seemed as satisfying. What could be done? The Mind began to feel regret, began to feel a desire to undo what had been done. Thus began the weaning of The Body. The Body still felt those impulses. Body still wanted them. Still threw a fit when the Mind would not indulge. But the Mind held strong. Or tried to. There were occasional bouts of weakness when The screaming of Body was too much. But the Mind remembered the Spirit. The Mind remembered the light. The friendship. The joy. And these kept the Mind trying. Over time, with the Mind denying the Body, the Body began to understand. Began to feel the void. Began to see the goal. And the Body began to help the Mind. The Body whined less. The Body tried to fight the impulses alone. And when it got to much, Body would turn to Mind for help. The two struggled alone for a time. It seemed such a long time too. One day, when Mind was helping to distract Body, they heard a sound behind them. Both turned to look and lo! what and exciting discovery to see Spirit returning from the dead. It was the same Spirit they had once known, only smaller and weaker. They were so happy to be reunited. Together, Body and Mind nurtured Spirit back to health. It took time. More time than the two had spent without Spirit. And it was hard. So very hard. At times, it seemed that no progress was being made. But they never forgot their goal. They never stopped working. All three remembered their once glorious happiness. They remembered and they worked. And eventually, they got there.