January Update
What I’m learning
“It has been so refreshing this week to deal with one another as souls,” I told Sadie.
This past week I was in Hamilton, MA for a week-long intensive class called Spiritual Formation for Ministry. For this class we were expected to draft a paper answering the question, “What is the soul?” On the first day, our professor, Steve Macchia, invited us to share what we had been processing. Toward the end of the discussion I raised my hand and said, “The main question I’ve been wrestling with is, ‘Do I have a soul?’ or ‘Am I a soul?’ and I’m not sure, but I’m leaning toward the latter.”
Steve responded, saying that perhaps it is both. But like we all do, he spent the rest of the week primarily using possessive language ("My soul") and talking about the soul "from a distance"—as if "it" was something outside of us, or, at best, as if it was just one piece of us.
I agreed then, and I still agree, that the soul is mysterious and complex. I still think it is fine to say that we both have a soul and are a soul. But over the course of this week I became more and more convinced that in our context today it is essential that we lean heavily toward seeing one another as souls.
To be a soul is to be a spiritual structure. It is to tie our person, who we are by nature, to the things of and the laws of the spiritual. Here is an excerpt from the assigned paper, “What is the Soul?” (read the whole paper here):
The soul, as a structure within a larger spiritual world, operates according to the “law of the Spirit,” or in the Kingdom. Just as the body needs to be fed physically, the soul needs to be fed spiritually—by the Word of God and by doing His will. Just as the body can be hurt and healed, as Wilhoit points out, the soul “needs to be put in order” by a “Soul Physician.” …Operating within the law of the Spirit, the soul thrives when it pursues greatness through service, when it stores up treasure in heaven, when it welcomes the outcast, pursues justice, and sacrifices itself for the sake the Gospel.
Read that last sentence again slowly, but replace the words "soul" and “it” with the word “I.” Do you notice a change? Feel anything different?
This idea became my soap box. I spent the rest of the week constructing, building onto, and testing this little box from a variety of angles. It was clear to me, however, that the Spirit had invited me to spend the class time receiving rather than sharing, so I decided not to “stand on my soap box” during class. (But that did not keep me from standing up on it with Sadie during our nightly FaceTime...I’m sorry, Sadie. You are incredibly patient. Bless you.)
In this post I can only scratch the surface on this idea, and how it is shaping the way I see God, the world, and most importantly, other people. And this is just one of about four or five things I’ve been learning.
And of course, I am still very much in process. In fact, I hesitate to share this with you at all. I don’t want to be the guy who has been to one seminary class and now has it all figured out! Not even close—I have more questions now than I did before.
I share all this (1) to honestly communicate what I’m learning, (2) to express how grateful I am to be on this seminary journey, and to (3) let you know that I am coming back from this week more changed by, fascinated by, close to, and in love with God.
Thank you for participating, praying, giving, and learning along with me.
Prayer Request
While I was away in class, back home Sadie and Charlie were hit with sickness. Bronchitis, ear infections, and more. This was hard first go at being in the “seminary routine” as a family, and felt more spiritual than coincidental. Please pray for full recovery, continued health, and spiritual protection that the enemy would be kept from making seminary feel like more of burden to our family than it actually is.
Financial Update
Due to some tweaks to my financial support, I am now looking for someone who would be willing and able to become a “Partnership Program Monthly Donor” at the $25/mo level. If this is something you would like to talk more about, please let me know by sending me an email.
Book Club Round 2!
Round 1 was a wonderful success! I’m so grateful to be learning alongside others who long not simply for an intellectual exercise, but to be shaped by relationship with God.
We read and discussed Dallas Willard’s Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God, one of the required readings for my first class.
Book Club Round 2 is coming soon! We will aim to run February 12 through April 2, with a gathering on Sunday, April 2nd from 3-4:30pm. Two titles are up for selection:
Crafting a Rule of Life by Steve Macchia (view on Amazon)
Working the Angles by Eugene Peterson (view on Amazon)
Click below to sign up and vote for your preferred book!
Marylin and Dave Sweet hosted me in their home for the January class. Each morning as I was getting ready I would hear them singing a hymn together, then separate for time alone with God. They are a beautiful example of how God can shape us over a lifetime of steady obedience.
This is the original mansion (I think) where the seminary started. Later it became housing for the seminary. Now it serves only as a “Retreat House.” My class spent one full day here, primarily in silence. We had time alone with God, together for worship, and we ate lunch together like monks…in silence! It was the first time I’d done this, hopefully not the last.
Joe introduced himself to me at the Sweet’s church on Sunday. Then he and his family invited me over for dinner in the middle of the week. It was truly refreshing to be with them and around the little people that have such joy and energy and don’t take their spirituality so seriously!
