One's body calls for such constant attention that it may seem difficult or even impossible at times to obey Paul's counsel in II Corinthians, where he approves a willingness "to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord" (5: 8). Two verses earlier are his words, "Whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord."
Paul's advice has a depth of spiritual meaning for us all. The body he was speaking of is the mortal or carnal man. This erroneous concept of being seems to be our self, but it is only a mistaken view of self drilled into human thought by our human progenitors and by contemporary mortal beings. If a mortal were really man, then being would be extinct when the material form is put off. But in Christian Science we learn to distinguish between that which is mortal and perishable and that which is spiritual and eternal.
A physical body is not man. That which is material is but the objectification or projection of mortal thought. It is the manifestation of the personal senses, the substratum of mortal mind. Man's real body is his spiritual identity. The human body manifests normality as one understands his genuine identity and puts off mortal beliefs. Mrs. Eddy says (Science and Health, p. 425), "Consciousness constructs a better body when faith in matter has been conquered."
