368. Does a spirit fully exercise its faculties after its union with a body?
“This depends on the organs that serve as their instruments. Their exercise is weakened by the rudimentary nature of matter.”
a) Is the material envelope an obstacle to the free exercise of a spirit’s faculties, as an opaque glass is an obstacle to the free emission of light?
“Yes, it is a particularly opaque obstacle.”
We can also compare the action exercised upon a spirit by the rudimentary matter of its body to muddy water hampering the motion of objects swimming in it.