No. 78 The Soul

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Group Session Plan from FUSN (developed by Holly Zeeb)

Opening Words
We know intuitively that the soul has to do with genuineness and depth, as when we say certain music has soul or a remarkable person is soulful. . . Tradition teaches that soul lies midway between understanding and unconsciousness, and that its instrument is neither the mind nor the body, but imagination . . . Fulfilling work, rewarding relationships, personal power, and relief from symptoms are all gifts of the soul. They are particularly elusive in our time because we do not believe in the soul and therefore give it no place in our hierarchy of values. We have come to know soul only in its complaints: when it stirs, disturbed by neglect and abuse, and causes us to feel pain. It is commonplace for writers to point out that we live in a time of deep division, in which mind is separated from body and spirituality is at odds with materialism. But how do we get out of this split? We can’t just “think” ourselves through it, because thinking itself is part of the problem. What we need is a way out of dualistic attitudes. We need a third possibility, and that third is the soul. . . . . To undertake this restoration of soul means we have to make spirituality a more serious part of everyday life . . . It isn’t about curing, fixing, changing, adjusting or making healthy, and it isn’t about some idea of perfection or even improvement. It doesn’t look to the future for an ideal, trouble-free existence. Rather, it remains patiently in the present, close to life as it presents itself day by day, and yet at the same time mindful of religion and spirituality.
Thomas Moore, The Care of the Soul

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Topic / Activity
The idea of the soul has inspired poetry, theology, song, prayer, argument. We say “soul food”, “soul music”, We sing, “Awake, my soul”. But for Unitarians perhaps the soul is akin to a mythical beast. Is the soul a meaningful idea for you? If so, how does your life, and the way you live, express or rely on this meaning? If it seems irrelevant or meaningless, why? What seems more relevant to you?

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Closing
Is the soul solid, like iron?
Or is it tender and breakable, like
the wings of a moth in the beak of an owl?
Who has it, and who doesn’t
I keep looking around me.
The face of the moose is as sad
as the face of Jesus.
The swan opens her white wings slowly.
In the fall, the black bear carried leaves in the darkness
One question leads to another.
Does it have a shape? Like an iceberg?
Like the eye of a hummingbird?
Does it have one lung, like the snake and the scallop?
Why should I have it and not the anteater
who loves her children?
Why should I have it and not the camel?
Come to think of it, what about the maple trees?
What about the blue iris?
What about all the little stones, sitting alone in the moonlight
What about the roses and the lemons, and their shining leaves?
What about the grass?
Mary Oliver, “Some Questions You Might Ask”