With a Perfect Understanding

A few weeks ago I caught sight of Peter drawing on his arm with a pen. Now, I was that kid in high school that always had writing on their hand and arm because that's how I kept track of my assignments. I seem to recall that my Mom was never pleased with this habit. Having since realized that paper is a better receptacle for notes, I have stopped writing on myself. I figured I would try to stop Peter before he really got started.

I went with the tactic that came to my mind first. I explained to Peter that his body was a temple and just like we wouldn't write on the walls of the Temple, we don't want to write on our own temple. I figured I was laying the foundation for the future talk about why we don't get tattoos and why he and his brother shouldn't have any piercings.

At first he was incredulous. He looked at me like I was crazy and made it clear that he was not a building. I explained that his body was not a Temple that people get married in, but that it was the temple for his spirit. He accepted that more readily.

This exchange has led to a number of short conversations about his body being a temple. I even heard Peter explain to Cooper one day that his body was the temple for his spirit. It was a sweet conversation to overhear.

Last week I discovered that his understanding of the concept had grown beyond the things that we had discussed. He had asked if his spirit looked like him. I said yes. A few days later, this is what he told me.

Peter: Mom, my spirit looks like me.

Me: Yes it does.

Peter: My Spirit looks like me, because it is me. My body just holds my Spirit. But my spirit is who I really am.