Cicero, a Roman philosopher, statesmen and orator –living in 100BC, once said: “A room without books is like a body without a soul.”
And I would say that the opposite is true: not only a body but, a soul without depth is like a room without books.
Many argue about the soul and what it is, where it is; is it the same as Spirit? My understanding is that soul is the piece inside that holds one’s unique essence. It is ethic, faith, hope, charisma; life. It is the part of an individual that connects them to the whole. It is the part of humans that often is forgotten, not fed or taken care of.
Tonight we focus on the phrase: love the Lord your God with all your soul.
“Anthony de Mello tells a tale of an ancient island a mile or two offshore that had a great temple with thousands of bells. Whenever the wind blew, the bells, in unison, would peel out in awesome clarity and grace. Over the centuries the island sank deep in to the ocean, yet a legend arose that if someone listened carefully the temple bells could still be heard in all their beauty.
One young man sought the mystical experience of the fabled bells and spent weeks and weeks trying with all his attention to hear them. Yet all he heard was the wind in the palm trees and the endless sound of the surf. Frustrated, he gave up all his exercises to empty his ears and decided to go home.
Before he departed, however, he decided to lie on the beach and enjoy the sand, the warmth of the sun and the sound of the endless waves. In the depth of his relaxed silence, he unexpectedly heard a faint tinkling of a bell, then several bells a bit more loudly, until finally he could hear all thousands bells in all their splendor. To his amazement, the young man was swept away in wonder and joy.
( –as told by Edward Hays, “A Lenten Hobo Honeymoon” pg56)
This story is telling. Is it not when we stop trying so hard, when we finally take time to unplug, to relax...that then our souls have the opportunity to hear –to be mystical – to transport us from our bodies, full of books that say nothing; to a richness of a well crafted library, where books of significance, beauty, grace, knowledge have been collected for centuries –full of truths, full of hope, full of hidden promise.
These are the texts, the sounds, the silence that grow one’s soul. Tonight when commanded to love the Lord your God with all your soul – this requires lying on the beach, enjoying the sand, the warmth of the sun, the sound of the waves; in the depth so silence your soul will reconnect with the love of its existence –God, creator, redeemer, sanctified...
As one spends more time reconnecting, the soul grows bigger; it becomes easier and easier to walk each step of the day, as if on the beach. Each step becomes prayer; feeding your soul and in the process it seeks other souls to feed, to love.
For the healing of the world, relax in silence and be blessed with the tinkling of holy bells, holy words, holy experience.
Thanks for the parable by de Mello. We're reminded in so many ways that to hear the voice of God we need silence. In a world that can't stop talking (or screaming), it takes intentional effort to carve out a place of silence for ourselves and God to commune. But the soul-nourishing results are worth it. Carol Anne
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