Are we doing the right work for our souls?
My morning routine is an important part of my new life. I wake up most mornings, look over at my beautiful wife, and ask her a series of questions; one of them asking how her soul is doing.
A potentially insignificant and arbitrary question, but an important one nonetheless. Because her soul matters, and is often the seed-bed of her emotions. It is therefore important that I am aware of seeds that are beginning to germinate and take root in her soul. As I do mine, because my soul matters too, and can become far too vulnerable and emotional if I haven't taken the time to introspect and examine and remove the weeds.
She asks the same questions of me and we begin to prune and tend to the gardens of our souls.
Caught up in the busy-ness of life and the endless hustle, we often miss the opportunity to take time out and take stock of our hearts and our lives. Our souls can become so easily accustomed to a lack of attention, that they can silently slip away; leaving a shell of "functional" life devoid of anything resembling the ebbing, invigorated traits of true life.
We end up running in cruise-control, DOING life rather than BEING an active and participating member of the beautiful story that our unfolding lives are meant to be.
We miss out on the springs of life that are meant to flow from within.
Outside of our intentional work of processing our lives and dealing with our deepest feelings and emotions, we become devoid of the essential practice of presence; to see God at work in our lives and in the lives of others. We miss out on the opportunity of being a part of fruitful and healthy relationships that give, and do not take.
But when we do, we become healthier; truly functional and present within our lives. We begin to encounter and deal with the many hurts we have inflicted on each other, and those inflicted on us by the generations of our fathers and mothers. We become a people that are putting in the work to live with less scars and bruises that have long bled into the cracks of our already frayed relationships.
We deal, and we get better.
Soul-work is an intentional effort; one that is a product of bravery, honesty and truth. But on its own achieves no permanent end outside of the input of the Father. Because feelings are strong, but feelings can also be deceptive and lead us to incorrect conclusions about God and ourselves.
We need one better than us, stronger than us, to see past our loud and often overwhelming feelings and quench the flames of our fiery souls. We need our Father to affirm us, and correct us, and lead us deeper into His heart so that we can come out with a healthier view of ourselves, and our emotions. We need perspective.
We need Him to help us ultimately tend well to our souls.
Because outside of Him, we live an endless cycle of emotion and frustration, one without a view of eternity. Our fragile feelings oscillate between joy and despair, with no permanence except for the guarantee of their constant change.
But He is consistent, and His view is eternal.
Are you doing the work, and is your soul open to God?
_ Takunda
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