Soul-Fullness

Soul and Spirit

“The Soul selects her own Society—

Then—shuts the Door—

To her divine Majority—

Present no more—

Unmoved—she notes the Chariots—pausing—

At her low Gate—

Unmoved—an Emperor be kneeling

Upon her Mat—

I’ve known her—from an ample nation—

Choose one—

Then close the Valves of her attention—

Like Stone—“

                                  Emily Dickinson

         According to C.G. Jung and others, the soul is fundamentally oriented to life.  James Hillman, author and Jungian analyst, wrote that the soul is the psyche’s actual life, including “the present mess it is in, its discontent, dishonesties, and thrilling illusions.”  The soul is not particularly interested in “transcendence” or analytical searching.  It prefers to immerse itself in the present moment, or in the past, in memories and dreams.  Soulful people are sometimes like Emily Dickinson, who lived out her whole life in her family home in Amherst, Massachusetts.  She wrote, “Home is a holy thing—nothing of doubt or distrust can enter its blessed portals…”  Soul moves slowly, savors the present moment and doesn’t worry about what could be, or what will be.  Soul’s intelligence is often found after a long, slow period of rumination rather than a single moment of brilliant insight.

         While the soul may be found hovering about our attachments, spirit is that aspect of humanity that wants to soar above our messy everyday existence and find bliss in meaning and revelation.  The spirit seeks to take us out of our ordinary life to another level of reality that is airy and diffuse and detached from the burden of relationships, the fury of life on planet Earth.  Spirit wants us to experience another, higher plane.  It is more interested in the possibilities than the realities.  Spirit’s intelligence is blindingly bright, brilliant and over in a flash.

         Ours is not an either-or choice.  Ours is both.  We may find soul in our everyday existence; as the Zen stories tell us in “chopping wood, and carrying water.”  We can find meaning and deep intelligence in simply living.  And, now and then, we can soar with Spirit above the fray, and see the bigger picture, the possibilities, the unfolding.  Both are gifts of this human life. 

                          Thanks be to God,

                          Jane