Soul
Terry Hershey, a regular presenter at the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, tells the following story.
An American traveller planned a long safari to Africa. He was a compulsive man, loaded down with maps, timetables and agendas. Porters had been engaged from a local tribe to carry the cumbersome load of supplies, luggage and “essential stuff.”
On the first morning, they all woke very early and travelled very fast and went very far. On the second morning, they all woke very early and travelled very fast and went very far. On the third morning, they all woke very early and travelled very fast and went very far. And the American seemed pleased. On the fourth morning, the tribesmen refused to move. They simply sat by a tree. The American became incensed. “This is a waste of valuable time. Can someone tell me what is going on here?”
The translator answered, “They are waiting for their souls to catch up.”
Richard Rohr wrote, "I think of soul as anything’s ultimate meaning which is held within. Soul is the blueprint inside of every living thing that tells it what it is and what it can become. When we meet anything at that level, we will respect, protect and love it."
We cannot connect with our soul if we don’t make time for it. How often do we rush ahead thinking of the next task to tick off our to-do list, the next milestone to achieve or the next event to plan? And do we sit with any of the things we achieve at the soul level or are we onto the next thing straight away?
What if instead we took advice from the locals in the story and we slowed down and let our souls catch up.
Allowing our souls to catch up requires deep inner listening and quiet still awareness, what we are coming to understand as dadirri. Dr Miriam Rose adds to this. She recently said “We cannot hurry the river. We have to move with its current and understand its ways.”
Imagine if we took the time to listen to our soul, move with its current and understand its ways? We might just begin to understand the beauty and the gift that lies deep within us.
