1st Corinthians 5:1-5

1 On the whole it is reported that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not even named among the nations, so as one to have his father’s wife.

2 And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, so that he who has done this deed may be taken from your midst.

3 For as being absent in body but present in spirit, I indeed have judged already as though I were present concerning him who worked out this thing;

4 in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, with my spirit; also, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ;

5 to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

It really means nothing more than “I wish that I could be there with you.”

Just elaborate on that and use a few examples, real or fabricated, to illustrate it. Such as a person who loves science, say a science teacher, has to be at a family event during the week of the school’s science fair. She might say ” I am absent in body, but present in spirit” meaning her thoughts, her spirit, are there at the science fair (because she cares about it) but she is not there to share it with you.

Its not literal. Its not about a ghost being in the room necessarily. Its not about not paying attention or not helping or anything like that. its about impression and pressence. The affect one has on others. Its a phrase usually used to say someone who everyone wanted to be somewhere isnt there for whatever reasons. Prior engagements and yes sometimes death. But its true nature, the reason why it is uttered is because of the person of whom the people speak. The more impressionable you are the more of an affect you have on people wether they know you well or not will determine if they can sense your affect on the room full of people. A great person, a great speaker, a great thinker can influence a room full of people he or she has never met. Its a measure of how influential someone is on the present company and how much people care and how they carry that person’s image, ideas, words with them in other words that person’s essence or spirit.

If you think of the inverse of that which is “present in body and absent in spirit”; it could mean that this person has very low enthusiasm in their current situation and environment and is distant in mind and spirit yet to others they are present in bodily form. So if you turn it around again it could mean the same thing that their body is not reacting to what their spirit and mind are trying to tune into.

i interpret this as someone that has died but is still looking over you. like a loved one. there body is in the ground but their spirit is in heaven looking down at you. for a paper i would recommend that you write a small biography about someone that you loved that passed away like grandparents or aunts and uncles.

in case you seem on the encompassing verses you will see it speaks of their domicile, living place or Heaven with Christ that’s for the anointed ones. this is not any longer meant to be taken literal.

lights are on (in ur head) and nobody’s home.