Man is but a tenant of his physical body

Man is but a tenant of his physical body

Man is but a tenant of his physical body. This view was very impressively expressed by ex-President of the United States John Quincy Adams.

He was accosted on the streets of Boston by a friend who inquired how he was feeling, and he answered:

“Thank you! John Quincy Adams himself is well, sir, quite well. I thank you. But the house in which he lives at present is becoming dilapidated. It is tottering upon its foundations. Time and the seasons have nearly destroyed it. Its roof is pretty well worn out. Its walls are much shattered, and it trembles with every wind. The old tenement is becoming almost uninhabitable, and I think John Quincy Adams will have to move out of it soon; but he, himself, is quite well, sir, quite well.”

The scriptures tell us that when this mortal shall put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying, “Death is swallowed up in victory.

“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55)

Notes

From the funeral address at the services for Mrs. William R. Calderwood, February 23, 1949. See also: Clare Middlemiss, Cherished experiences from the writings of President David O. McKay, p. 193.