“…and my soul will be healed.”

Some of us still chafe at the word “soul” in this newer liturgical text at the time of communion. We prefer “…that I may be healed.” In our present day understanding, “I” just seems to include “all of me.” The real problem is that we really don’t know what the soul is. Maybe it’s that old “ghost in a machine.” We just can’t get a hold on it.

We are now entering deeper into ordinary time. The readings are filled with growth images and the healing of a broken humanness. But how do you heal a broken soul? How do I even know when it’s broken? Ordinary time is that day to day string of plain old moments and events, right? But stop a moment…such ordinariness is just where the Easter Mystery is going on, and much of it is taking place in our soul. So what are we talking about?

The soul is the life force that keeps our digestion and circulation going. It is that mysterious energy that we feel when we take our pulse. The soul not only keeps our physical functions going, it has marvelous functions that go on subconsciously…without our notice. What are the psychic functions of the soul? Well, they are functions that we share with animals, believe it or not. The capacity to image things, to link images and imagine things, to dream at night or in the daytime; and most important, the eleven powerful emotions. Aristotle and Thomas tell us there are two sets of emotions: the spontaneous emotions of love/hate, desire/aversion, and joy/sadness. Then there are the more considered emotions of fear/courage, hope/despair(powerlessness) and anger, with no opposite; it is flight/fight. Now I don’t know about you, but I need a lot of healing in this part of me.

 But that isn’t all. What we have described so far is the lower part of the soul. The upper part is the human spirit, and its functions are distinct because they are open to infinite possibility. So what are the functions of the human spirit? They are four: attentiveness and wonder at our experiences; intelligent questioning for understanding; reasonable judgment on the correctness of my understanding; and finally, responsible decision based on the value judgment of what is really important to me. Again, I need a lot of healing here…what about you? So maybe we need to reclaim our souls…and they really are us…not just a ghost in a machine.
 
Here I am, Lord…

Just ordinary me, in ordinary time, doing ordinary things.

But I’m an embodied spirit, a spiritual embodiment… quite amazing!

 Heal in me the stunted that needs to grow.
 
Draw me into the future you dream for me; be the Soul of my soul.

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