Honestly, the soul is an elusive thing.
“The soul is like a wild animal-tough, resilient, resourceful, savvy, self-sufficient. It knows how to survive in hard places. But it is also shy. Just like a wild animal, it seeks safety in the dense underbrush. If we want to see a wild animal, we know that the last thing we should do is go crashing through the woods yelling for it to come out. But if we walk quietly into the woods, sit patiently by the base of the tree, and fade into our surroundings, the wild animal we seek might put in an appearance.” Parker Palmer
You would think that people who work for the church – pastors and such - would have a great handle on our souls. But the truth of the matter is - busyness is the enemy of the soul. And I don’t know if you noticed, but we’re busy around here - 43rd fastest growing church in America and all of that. And we are led by a big dope of a Type A guy named ME, who has a lot of heart and a decent mind and enough strength, but always has trouble catching his wild animal of a soul – BECAUSE I CAN’T STOP CRASHING THROUGH THE WOODS.
So we got away and we spent 24 hours working on coming up with one thing we could do for our souls. Ten minutes of solitude, dropping out of technology, shutting down the noise and being silent, making a commitment to spend extended time with God, utilizing “prayer hours” during the day, etc.
It was a lot of great stuff. Ruth was a fantastic spiritual director. And I would say to a person, we are all wiped out today. Why? Because it’s easier to be busy and answer email and put out fires and plan services, than it is to tend to the soul. Man, it’s so hard to shut down and shut up.
I don’t know why I’m telling you this, except that if I have this problem, I’m guessing you do too.
For me, the quote of the day was from Henri Nouwen:
“Ministry is the least important thing. You cannot not minister if you are in communion with God and live in community. A lot of people are always concerned about: “How can I help people? Or help the youth come to Christ? Or preach well?” But these are all basically non-issues. If you are burning with the love of Jesus, don’t worry; everyone will know. They will say, “I want to get so close to this person who is so full of God.”
Let me encourage you, as you head into summer, to try to take some time to be full of God. Some time to be still enough so that your wild animal of a soul will peek itself out from behind a rock and help you and God reconnect.
Heck, why not do it today? Why not now? Could you find a place of quiet and spend 10 minutes being still and answering this question – “How is it with your soul?”
Tim
We see your Soul when you Pray, and your heart too :) love Henri, and thanks for the intro to Palmer. Here's a little St. Teresa de Avila for you (and the Jesuits :). "Remember when I said GOD brought the bride into the innermost wine cellar? What I didn't mention is that this is where HE invested her with Charity. Now the soul's great love for GOD moves her to surrender herself so completely into HIS hands that, in the deep Peace that comes with this surrender, she neither knows nor desires anything beyond That HIS Will BE Done.". :) :) :) GOD Bless you and Keep you CLOSE.
Posted by: Surrendered | May 27, 2010 at 09:01 AM
Good stuff, Tim! Thanks for the encouraging and challenging words! I am on the same page with the whole "crashing through the woods" thing. Thanks!
Posted by: Stephen Politte | June 01, 2010 at 07:42 PM
How wonderful to get away and retreat :-) My most favorite experiences are the God and me alone times -- even if it's on the train commuting (I've gotten good at shutting the world out around me) and those precious minutes as my soul reconnects with Him whether in music, praise, talking or just plain looking out the window. I do know this -- that my soul is the "real" me whether good or not so good and it's the only place I am deeply moved and affected with all that God has for me. Peace and blessings to you!
Posted by: Diane Johnson | June 02, 2010 at 03:02 PM