Very interesting remembering sayings such as “he is a dear old soul” which implies organic substance. But, in church and Sunday School, throughout my life, I was taught that my soul was what would get to Heaven. Now I infer that when my body dies, my soul accompanies it to dust and, hopefully, my spirit ends up in Heaven.
"Once upon a time, in a not-so-far-away land, there was a kingdom of acorns, nestled at the foot of a grand old oak tree. Since the citizens of this kingdom were modern, fully Westernized acorns, they went about their business with purposeful energy; and since they were midlife, ambitious acorns, they engaged in a lot of self-help courses. There were seminars called 'Getting All You Can out of Your Shell.' There were woundedness and recovery groups for acorns who had been bruised in their original fall from the tree. There were spas for oiling and polishing those shells and various acorn-o-pathic therapies to enhance longevity and well-being.
One day in the midst of this kingdom there suddenly appeared a knotty little stranger, apparently dropped 'out of the blue' by a passing bird. He was capless and dirty, making an immediate negative impression on his fellow acorns. And crouched beneath the oak tree, he stammered out a wild tale. Pointing upward at the tree, he said, 'We…are…that!'
Delusional thinking, obviously, the other acorns concluded, but one of them continued to engage him in conversation: 'So tell us, how would we become that tree?' 'Well,” he said, pointing downward, 'it has something to do with going into the ground …and cracking open the shell.'
'Insane,' they responded. 'Totally morbid! Why, then we wouldn’t be acorns anymore!'"
Two images/phrases come to my mind following this series, perhaps neither all that particularly helpful (haha!), but they are at least curious to me as I process your words.
“Poor soul, he was just too high strung.” Doc Holiday, Tombstone. It’s interesting how we use this word soul. It seems to actually find considerable use in the way you’re advocating for, describing the physical life - which can be lost, can die. But when isolated from context, we almost always think about it as spiritual. I think you’re doing great to help us straighten this all out!
Second thought: soul music. Soul came to describe a singing style that is raw, sometimes even guttural, impassioned and life filled. Perhaps people also think of it as spiritual. But I think, more so, the singing style is so powerful and relatable because it’s dusty, earthy, carnal. It’s fleshy. Perhaps we feel it so deeply not because it’s otherworldly but because it’s so profoundly this worldly, it connects to our most physical, grounded experience of our life.
🤷🏻♂️ Like I said, these may not contribute anything helpful here! Haha. But I appreciate the journey you’re taking us on and these are rattling around in my brain!
As I ponder this series of your posts on the soul and pneuma, I am reminded of Iain McGilchrst's Master and His Emmissary, a large book exploring the two hemispheres of the brain. The left hemisphere has become dominant over the right, attached to logic, grasping, language, intellect, material science and self identity, whereas the right hemisphere may reside the intuitive, loving, wise, holistic, song, metaphor and true spiritual resonator of our brains.
I stumbled onto this book full of neurological research studies (brain trauma, stroke) while taking care of my younger brother who had been diagnosed with a fatal glioblastoma brain tumor. The topic was both philosophical and scientific.
Richard, I super appreciate your series of posts on soul and spirit. I am a student of internal family systems therapy and have strived to uncover alignment between our bicameral minds and the gospel victory of Jesus. Your books and posts resonate with my deeper parts. Thank you.
Javen Bear (also works for Christian university) does an fair job of summarizing the 600 pages of McGilchrist's book. Adding an interesting call out about the abuse of AI, further conforming us toward a material world dominated by the left hemisphere, the emissary who is convinced himself (ourselves) they are the master.
Very interesting remembering sayings such as “he is a dear old soul” which implies organic substance. But, in church and Sunday School, throughout my life, I was taught that my soul was what would get to Heaven. Now I infer that when my body dies, my soul accompanies it to dust and, hopefully, my spirit ends up in Heaven.
"Once upon a time, in a not-so-far-away land, there was a kingdom of acorns, nestled at the foot of a grand old oak tree. Since the citizens of this kingdom were modern, fully Westernized acorns, they went about their business with purposeful energy; and since they were midlife, ambitious acorns, they engaged in a lot of self-help courses. There were seminars called 'Getting All You Can out of Your Shell.' There were woundedness and recovery groups for acorns who had been bruised in their original fall from the tree. There were spas for oiling and polishing those shells and various acorn-o-pathic therapies to enhance longevity and well-being.
One day in the midst of this kingdom there suddenly appeared a knotty little stranger, apparently dropped 'out of the blue' by a passing bird. He was capless and dirty, making an immediate negative impression on his fellow acorns. And crouched beneath the oak tree, he stammered out a wild tale. Pointing upward at the tree, he said, 'We…are…that!'
Delusional thinking, obviously, the other acorns concluded, but one of them continued to engage him in conversation: 'So tell us, how would we become that tree?' 'Well,” he said, pointing downward, 'it has something to do with going into the ground …and cracking open the shell.'
'Insane,' they responded. 'Totally morbid! Why, then we wouldn’t be acorns anymore!'"
Two images/phrases come to my mind following this series, perhaps neither all that particularly helpful (haha!), but they are at least curious to me as I process your words.
“Poor soul, he was just too high strung.” Doc Holiday, Tombstone. It’s interesting how we use this word soul. It seems to actually find considerable use in the way you’re advocating for, describing the physical life - which can be lost, can die. But when isolated from context, we almost always think about it as spiritual. I think you’re doing great to help us straighten this all out!
Second thought: soul music. Soul came to describe a singing style that is raw, sometimes even guttural, impassioned and life filled. Perhaps people also think of it as spiritual. But I think, more so, the singing style is so powerful and relatable because it’s dusty, earthy, carnal. It’s fleshy. Perhaps we feel it so deeply not because it’s otherworldly but because it’s so profoundly this worldly, it connects to our most physical, grounded experience of our life.
🤷🏻♂️ Like I said, these may not contribute anything helpful here! Haha. But I appreciate the journey you’re taking us on and these are rattling around in my brain!
Thx for your work, Richard. 🙏
As I ponder this series of your posts on the soul and pneuma, I am reminded of Iain McGilchrst's Master and His Emmissary, a large book exploring the two hemispheres of the brain. The left hemisphere has become dominant over the right, attached to logic, grasping, language, intellect, material science and self identity, whereas the right hemisphere may reside the intuitive, loving, wise, holistic, song, metaphor and true spiritual resonator of our brains.
I stumbled onto this book full of neurological research studies (brain trauma, stroke) while taking care of my younger brother who had been diagnosed with a fatal glioblastoma brain tumor. The topic was both philosophical and scientific.
Richard, I super appreciate your series of posts on soul and spirit. I am a student of internal family systems therapy and have strived to uncover alignment between our bicameral minds and the gospel victory of Jesus. Your books and posts resonate with my deeper parts. Thank you.
Javen Bear (also works for Christian university) does an fair job of summarizing the 600 pages of McGilchrist's book. Adding an interesting call out about the abuse of AI, further conforming us toward a material world dominated by the left hemisphere, the emissary who is convinced himself (ourselves) they are the master.
https://javenbear.com/2023/01/07/right-and-left-brain/