The World Also Has a Soul
"There is a core delusion at the center of our struggles in all organizations. A core delusion that narrows our sense of self and ignores the greater world beyond the organization. It is a world that can inform us of our personal destiny, but also a world that we have lost the time and inclination to investigate thoroughly. Trying to ignore this greater world, we forge a small identity held within the narrow corridors of the building in which we work. Rather than breathing life and vitality into work from the greater perspective which is our birthright, we allow our dreams and desires to be constricted and replaced by those of the organization and then wonder why it has such a stranglehold on our lives."
"The first step to preserving the soul in our individual lives is to admit that the world has a soul also, and is somehow participating with us in our work and destiny. That there is a sacred otherness to the world which is breathtakingly helpful simply because it is not us; it is not defined by our human worries and preoccupations, and it never will be. Its refusal to concern itself solely with our personal ambitions is its greatest mercy; it reserves itself for another kind of nourishment, one we come to when we are ready to drop our reflexive self-concern and look beyond our exhausting self-importance. As the poet David Ignatow reminds himself:
'I should be content
to look at a mountain
for what it is
and not as a comment of my life.
"Looking at the mountain for it own sake opens up a life that can be descried only in the numinous effulgence of poetry or the self-forgetfulness of vital prose. This self-forgetfulness is the essence of firsthand experience. We no longer see our experience as useful for getting something out of someone else, or getting us quickly somewhere else, but as the primary touchstone of both our individuality and the strange way our individuality depends upon everything else. In such experience there is nowhere to go because the experience of interdependence is complete in itself. This experience of belonging satisfies a primary hunger that lies at the center of our soul life; it holds both restful and fiery qualities simultaneously, it is not an easy out.
Taking the first vulnerable steps into our own experience, no matter how small or hidden at the beginning, opens us to a more generous life, where what we have to give figures as largely as what we receive. We stop trying to draw infinitely from a finite world and begin to learn how little is necessary to live a life that honors the soul of the world. We learn that in many respects our world works as a partner, sometimes friendly, sometimes terrifying, but always true to its own necessities and by its example drawing us toward our own.
How do you relate to the notion that the world also has a soul? Can you share a personal experience where you felt the soul of the world, that it was a partner in your life? How do we practice being true to our own necessities?
A few years ago, our church was blessed with a pastor who very much revered the church grounds. Surrounded by nature and all the creatures in it, he was fruitful and multiplied it's goodness. He had the vision to create an outdoor sanctuary of varying sorts. Places/spaces for private and public meeting, reflection, celebration . . . he imagined and made it come to be.
This special Father is no longer physically here . . . BUT, through "Heaven and natures soul", he is very present. Just yesterday, there were 9 deer grazing about one of the sacred spaces he created. There is a "sitting stone" on which I sit if I want to be close to him in prayer. His rock sings (just as he did when he was here). His soul has touched many blades of grass. Yup, even the grass tells his story.
Thankful to walk on it.
Soul for me, is in, as and through All that IS. Often, when I'm outside, there is a presence that is me and everything. At these times, I know without thinking, feel with All there is. It's like poetry, not understanding and experiencing Oneness. It's not something, it's not anything. Just an All encompassing knowing for All Time and Space of an immutable presence. What ever I call it, God, Source, Spirit or Soul, would limit it in another's experience. It's like a cool breeze or the sound of the ocean or the experience of a long hug.
Nature has always shown me the beauty and mystery of the worlds soul. The trees, the water, the animals that live there - their only purpose is to be true to themselves, to share and express all the beauty they contain as a tree, a squirrel or a lake. And I feel that my purpose is to be authentic and true to myself. When i trust who I am as a wild and sacred part of the soul of the earth/universe then I find that the world reaches back to me and says Yes, yes. Fear will always send me into a constrained and small existence, forgetful of my place among all beings.
It's true that there is a sense of vulnerability to this reaching out to the world, a shakiness that calls up to our true warrior nature. I feel held in partnership with the soul of the world if i can remember that i don't just belong to the family of humans but all life. That really we all belong to the universe.
I am a bubble who is part of the Sea. All people, all creatures, the earth itself with all its variable, magnificent expressions, and the great vast sphere of divine presence everywhere washes over and through each experience. I am contained and included in life's infinite love -- circumference nowhere, center everywhere.
The world has Soul. Soul takes on form in every plant, animal, rock, and each of us. My personal experience is my coming to realize that each of us and the world are expressions of the same Soul, realize that we and the world are one, and realize that what we do to the world we do to ourselves. We don't own the world. We and the world are kin. We are to work with the world, not conquer and exploit it. In harming the world we harm ourselves, which is insane. We practice being true to our own necessities by learning what our necessities really are, and letting go of the unnecessities. We try to have so much that we don't need. Someone said we can never have enough of what we don't really need. Ten percent of people hogging ninety percent of resources isn't necessary. We can be compassionate, work together, and share. We can help one another and the world to have its necessities.
When we are in harmony with our gifts & talents and authentic self, the world also becomes in harmony with us; it becomes a two way street by which we can more easily share our gifts because the world provides opportunities for us to do so. As long as our eyes & hearts are open to seeing the possibilities in the world. I hope this makes sense. HUGS from my heart to yours and out into the world!
