Tag Archives: Soul

Answering the Call

Draw near to GodEastertide
April 22, 2015

Scripture Reading: Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
   he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths
   for his name’s sake.—Psalm 23:1-3

I don’t know about you but I vacillate between needing my body rested and my soul restored and that is why this Psalm is so very important for me. I have experienced what is called “being burned out” and I think that is when both our bodies and souls need to be restored but it is most often one or the other. Right now it is my body that needs attention but the reason it needs rest is because I have been a part of some wonderful service recently that has filled my soul. I have been fed by some dedicated Christian women who knew what needed to be done and did it in a coordinated, collaborative way that was a blessing to all involved. I will, however, benefit from some planned moments in the near future beside still waters.

I retired from a 35 year career in public service several years ago. The idea of retirement had been tossing around in the back of my head for a couple of years. I just did not believe I was making the difference I was called to make within the confines of the job that I had. The problem was, in all honesty, I was not sure who would continue the work that I was doing and I thought it was important. About that time my body said it needed an overhaul and after major surgery, I was forced to the green pastures and still waters of six weeks of recovery. During that stent I came to realize I was no longer answering my call from God through the job I was doing as I had felt throughout my career and my first priority had to be answering that call. I turned in my retirement papers on the first day I returned to work and truly have never looked back.

God calls us to wholeness. To do that we must care for our bodies by doing all those things we have heard since birth: eat right, exercise, get plenty of sleep. We must develop our minds while building social relationships of family, friends, and society. Finally, we must rest in God for all these other attributes of life are held together by our souls in relationship with God. This week let us all live into Psalm 23 whether we need rest for our bodies or nurture for our souls.

Prayer:
O Jesus, blest Redeemer,
Sent from the heart of God,
Hold us who wait before Thee
 Near to the heart of God. Amen.

*Chorus from Near to the Heart of God by Cleland B. McAfee see at http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/n/e/neartoth.htm
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

One with the Lord

Gifts of the spiritEpiphany
Celebration of God
Manifested in the World
January 16, 2015

 Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Do you not know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, ‘The two shall be one flesh.’ But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the body itself. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body. —1 Corinthians 6:16-20

I just finished reading Soul Keeping by John Ortberg. He envisions a representation of us humans as being a series of circles. The center most circle is the Will. It is surrounded by the circle of the Mind, than the circle of the Body, and finally the circle that holds it all together, the Soul. While I am still playing with this example in my own thoughts, it makes sense. I, however, don’t think most of us function as if the Soul were the primary circle in our lives. For some the Will would be the outer boundary of who we are and the Soul would be the inner most core.

The Soul is that part of are being that is our very essence, who we really are. How we treat each segment of our being is important to all the other segments. When our Will runs amuck our Minds, Bodies, and Souls are impacted and so it goes with each part.

Paul is perhaps suggesting in our scripture today that the Soul is the part of us that relates most closely to God. It is the home of the Holy Spirit. We need to take good care of it as we need to take good care our Bodies and Minds. If we take good care of all three our Wills might become a source of strength for our total being rather than an enemy battling for supremacy. It is something to think about.

Prayer: Lord, we pray that in whatever construct we perceive ourselves in relationship to you that your will is our will and our souls are one with you. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.