THE SHY SOUL

Parker J. Palmer writes, “If we want to support each other’s inner lives, we must remember a simple truth: the human soul does not want to be fixed, it wants simply to be seen and heard. If we want to see and hear a person’s soul, there is another truth we must remember: the soul is like a wild animal – tough, resilient, and yet shy. When we go crashing through the woods shouting for it to come out so we can help it, the soul will stay in hiding. But if we are willing to sit quietly and wait for a while, the soul may show itself.”

Most of us are painfully shy when it comes to introspection of our soul and it’s condition. Because it is something that is unseen clearly by others (and often by us), it is easy to go crashing around through books, conferences, videos and meetings to look for soul-fixing remedies and repairs. Because the soul is shy, I would recommend silence and solitude without even much quiet self-talk as the beginning place for understanding, repair and release. The Psalmist says, “Be still and know that I am God,” and I say, “Be still and know the soul God has given us.”

“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” Jesus