Kethuvim

I was doing some thinking the other day (and yes, it hurt). I read the passage of Scripture where Jesus says, "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose his soul? What can a man give in exchange for his soul?" I've read that passage a hundred times in my life and given my lovely fundamentalist upbringing (Yea! Let's hear it for Fundies!) I always assumed that Jesus was simply stating that if you put anything in front of him, enjoy the fires of hell because you lost your soul. Because, after all, Jesus was primarily concerned with heaven and hell right (if you didn't read that with caustic sarcasm, feel free to insert it, and then re-read the sentence)? However, this time when I read the passage a question formed in my brain. What is the soul?

Over the last couple of years, I've read some fairly mind-melting stuff, mainly written by Jewish authors. It all of sudden clicked with me that the way the Ancients defined the soul vastly differs from what I've been taught. So let me give the two contrasting views of the soul.

Modern - We seem to have what I call a Tom and Jerry view of the soul. In Tom and Jerry cartoons, very often Jerry would whack Tom across the head with something heavy and Tom would "die." He would be lying on the ground and a foggy version of him would release into the air. This is, presumably, the cartoonists way of saying that his soul has left him. This view of the soul has permeated our way of thinking. To us, the soul is nothing more than a ghost who's only purpose is to determine where we go when we die. We view the soul as something that is ultimately disconnected from who we are. It is a separate entity from our body, mind, thoughts, and emotions. When we die, this soul floats out of us and enters either heaven or hell. According to Christians, the soul can be saved by "accepting Jesus" (how's that for a foggy description?). This soul, by accepting Jesus, is made perfect and is thus "saved."

Ancient - They saw the soul as the deepest part of your being. The soul (or known also as the "heart" in ancient writings) was your life-force. It was the thing that shaped who you were as a person. It was not separate from your physical, mental, emotional body. As the soul went, so did the rest of you. Your soul was ultimately who you are.

This would have to be Jesus' view of the soul. The idea of a soul being some sort of separate entity from the rest of you was non-existant in his day. So this has gigantic implications for all of us. If your soul is the thing that makes you who you are, then Jesus' statement above takes on a whole new meaning. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world and yet lose himself? What good is it for you to strive to gain the world, and yet sell out who you really are in the process? Jesus' statement has nothing to do with the afterlife, but has everything to do with a quality of life to be lived here and now. Our country is full of people who are striving to gain everything the world has to offer and, in the process, they are losing their entire identity. They're selling out the very core of who they are for the bottom line. I believe that God is calling a people that will stop losing the deepest part of them for a bunch of crap that isn't going to satisfy or last anyway.

May you look to Jesus to find out who you really are created to be, and may you have the courage to make the changes necessary to regain your soul.