How is it with your soul?
How is it with your soul?
This sort of question usually makes me recoil. It smacks, to me anyway, of some sort of religious piety so far from my own that it sounds forced. How is it with your soul?… Do I have any control over that?
Maybe I was in a different state of mind, or just open to something new, but this question stuck with me last week.
I was in a generic hotel ballroom at a continuing education event and the speaker asked this group of pastors how it was with our souls. Before we could think about it though, he continued.
“I’m not asking how you are doing; I’m not asking if you are relaxed or if you are happy. How is it with your soul?”
He went on to talk about our own personal spiritual lives, how we are tending not only to ourselves, but to our relationship with (and devotion to) God. He was asking if we had been intentional about the time we spent building meaningful friendships (beyond small talk). He was asking if we were truly living generous lives in every sense.
How is it with your soul?
Far beyond the now-mainstream idea of self-care we learned that tending to your soul is less about getting a massage or having some nice me-time with a book. It is more about taking some time to be intentional about sitting in and acknowledging the grace and love of God.
My natural instinct, for better or worse (usually for worse) was to protest such things. I don’t have time! How many of us spend our days working or otherwise being busy only to come home and immediately have to transition to taking care of kids or aging parents…then shift to the kitchen to cook some dinner…then clean the house a bit so you don’t get behind…then before you know it, it’s late and you don’t have time for a chapter of a book or a chance to stream a show let alone tend to your soul? And tomorrow? Start over. Short version: I don’t have time to care for my soul. Can you relate?
So here is my encouragement for you, and some grace too! Tend to your soul this week. Take time to sit in silence. This does not mean you need to go on a days long retreat or ignore the world and obligations for days at a time. It simply means that you can take your commute or those trips back and forth to dance, the gym, the track, school, the care facility as times to pray and thank God for today.
I like to recite a line from Psalm 46 and then say the Lord’s Prayer, then repeat. “Be still and know that I am God…Our Father in Heaven…” and repeat. Doing so brings me back to a sense of being beloved rather than a sense of being rushed. It reminds me that I am more than an Uber for pre-teens. Be still and know that I am God…Our Father in Heaven…Be still…
How is it with your soul? Give yourself permission to sit with that question for a minute, and then, when you are ready, make time in the middle of all that is rushed to sit. And be.
How is it with your soul?
Marcia Jensen
Our Centering Prayer group is reading a book called “Choosing Presence” by Jim Heaney. Stopping now and then to take three slow deep breaths can bring us into the present moment where God live with us.
Audrey Keeney
Thank you for sharing these thoughts. I especially like the Psalms and Lords Prayer for meditation. I plan to do this.
Debbie James
Thank you for sharing! I have been doing some soul searching lately. We lost our golden retriever two weeks ago after he fought a brave battle with lymphoma. We are beyond heartbroken. There was a picture of a golden retriever at Creekside that said “If there are no dogs in heaven then when I die, I want to go where they went.” We sure hope we meet our pups again in heaven and imagining them running around with no pain brings us some comfort.
Wally Holland
Diana (Holland) and I had to put down our Golden (Annie) two weeks ago. Boy, do I understand your message. I’m still hurting from it. Diana even more than me. Over the years I have read Rainbow bridge too many times. Annie finally lost her battle to cancer. Just shy of 13. She had been a therapy dog. Thanks for sharing. Maybe we can share dog photos at church sometime.
Marcia Willi
I think that’s a FABULOUS IDEA, Wally
Sue Grove
We who are retired have more time “to be still.” I’ve been taking a morning walk since 1987, not every day, but many times a week. I find that quiet time a good time to thank God for the day and to pray as I go. We remember that rushed time of pre-teen Ubering! That phrase made me laugh!