[Elsie]

Paul said, "Absent from the body, present with the Lord." (I Cor. 5:8)

No, he didn't:

We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

[boatbums]

2 Corinthians 5:7-9
New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)

We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.