Daniel Rose

How is your soul?

Is it filled with anxiety? Is it filled with stress? Is it scattered? Is it weary? Is it joyous? Is it happy? Is it content?

How is your soul?

The state of our souls is a critically important question that we must ask. Too often we ignore our soul.

What do you think is the soul? I think it’s the core of who we are. It is inclusive of our emotional well-being, our physical well-being, our spiritual well-being, all of it.

It is in essence, who we are.

This sense of being is so important to grapple with. If we are honest with ourselves, we would prefer to not deal with it. At, least, I wouldn’t. I am learning that a significant aspect of who I am is that I try to ignore, dodge, and hide from my inner state of being. I will self-medicate with food, alcohol, friends, and all kinds of other distractions. To quiet myself and allow my mind to turn to my inner thoughts and the state of my soul is not at all what I would like to do.

Yet, for us to be healthy human beings, we must. We must figure out how to authentically delve into our identity, our soul, our being, and assess it. If we don’t do this work, we will unlikely ever find ourselves in a position to be content.

As the people of God would go on pilgrimage they would sing this short song,

Lord, my heart isn’t proud; my eyes aren’t conceited. I don’t get involved with things too great or wonderful for me. No. But I have calmed and quieted myself like a weaned child on its mother; I’m like the weaned child that is with me. Israel, wait for the Lord— from now until forever from now!

This line, But I have calmed and quieted myself.. is beautiful.

As they approached the holy mountain, they knew that they needed to do some soul work in preparation for meeting with God. They went deep and did the work to work to “calm and quiet” themselves.

In a world full of noise, how are you doing? Is your soul content? Are you doing the work to deal with what is going on inside you? Or, like an infant are you dependent on another?