In Search of the Soul

(Topic from The Scribbler's Writer's Group)

I would not have to look further than pop culture for at least one view of the soul. Dating services promise that if you use their services you will find your “soul mate.” The premise here is that we will unconsciously be attracted to the one person who was made just for us, someone who shares our view of life, our desires and goals. Some even say it is a spiritual connection between two souls.

Popular songs often express the sentiment of loving someone completely. Back in the 30’s two of the biggest jazz hits of the day referred to the soul - Billie Holiday’s recording of “Body and Soul” (1930) and Hoagy Carmichael’s “Heart and Soul” (1938).

I mention these examples not to trivialize the idea of the soul, but to show how it has permeated the popular culture and is not just confined to a religious concept. There does seem to be a striking similarity between the two though- only the object of one’s love and devotion is different, i.e. Jesus too taught that a person must love God with their entire being.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind” (Luke 10: 25).

Soul is also used to designate a musical genre popular in the 60’s- the Motown sound. It applied to singers who sang with such feeling that they were thought to be singing from their ‘soul.’ The sound had its roots in Southern gospel music.

There is another modern day use of the term soul when used in conjunction with psychology. With my background as a psychiatric nurse I am familiar with the concept “soul sickness,” or demoralization which is characterized by feelings of hopelessness and helplessness. Patients with soul sickness are often described as having “checked out” of life. The answer or treatment in our secular culture is therapy, and perhaps medication for depression. Christians include a spiritual approach: “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God (Psalm 42).

This concept of soul sickness is also seen in other cultures. The DSM V, the diagnostic manual for psychiatric disorders, includes several examples in culture-bound syndromes.

Among Native Americans, the Anishinabe people (also known as Ojibwa or Chippewa) describe a type of soul sickness called wétigo. Those afflicted with it are called windigos—a term which can be translated as “cannibal” or “soul eater.” Windigos were destructive not only to themselves, but to those around them: they consumed the souls of other people with their greed.

This seems to me to describe pretty well what might happen to a soul not transformed by the Spirit in today’s culture of greed. I can easily picture a corporate hedge fund guy being consumed by a condition like this. Remember Michael Douglas’ famous line in Wall Street- “Greed is good”?

Another example is Susto - A folk illness prevalent among some Latinos in the United States and among people in Mexico, Central America, and South America. Susto is an illness attributed to a frightening event that causes the soul to leave the body and results in unhappiness and sickness. It is believed that in extreme cases, susto may even result in death. Ritual healings are focused on calling the soul back to the body and cleansing the person to restore bodily and spiritual balance.

This one sound eerily familiar when we look at what the Bible says about David in his time of trouble. He cried, “Save me, O God, for waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire. I am come into deep waters, floods overflowing. I am weary of my crying” (Psalm 69:1-3). The root cause of “soul sickness” with David is that his troubles went on and on and even got worse. His soul cried out to God for help, but there seemed to be no answer.

How does the Bible define the soul?

The terms heart, soul and mind are often used interchangeably. In general ‘heart’ refers to the inner man and when used metaphorically can refer to the mind, the emotions or the will, or simply to the person as a whole. “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Prov. 4:23). Soul is also used to incorporate our mind, our will and our emotions. So it would seem that heart and soul (back to that jazz song) often refer to the same thing- the inner man. Can be confusing, right?

The mind and emotions are thought to both continually operate upon the will to affect it. We spend most of our life operating from this conscious level. For example, I may have an angry thought which is accompanied by feelings of bitterness and resentment. If unchecked, I may decide to act on my thoughts and feelings and lash out at the object of my displeasure (a willful choice). If this is a pattern with me, I may be known as an angry person.

The soul is the essence of who we are as a person, what is known about us by others and to a greater or lesser degree, what we know about ourselves. It is the part of us in most need of renovation.

We also see the soul in conjunction with the spirit. The soul and the spirit are connected, but separable. Human beings have a spirit, but we are not spirits. The spirit is a deeper, hidden part in man. Conscience is a function of the spirit. It is this spirit that lives on after death. Dallas Willard says:

“The life we live out in our moments, hours, days, and years wells up from a hidden depth...the hidden dimension of each human life is not visible to others, nor is it fully graspable even by ourselves. We usually know very little about the things that move in our own soul.”

Here Christians and non-Christian’s diverge. Secular psychology rejects belief in a spirit component to man, but embraces the concept of the unconscious mind operating at a level below our conscious awareness. This can be an area of darkness, despair and confusion apart from God.

Our spirit is instantly reborn and made new the moment we accept Christ, but the soul is not born again.

Our souls can carry a lot of baggage from our past lifestyle that we need to get rid of. For example, we may have addictions, habits, and hurts from childhood that still torment us and prevent us from being free.

Our souls are transformed by the renewing of our minds:

"And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" (Romans 12:2).

It is through His Spirit living in us, communicating with our spirit, that our hearts and minds and are brought in sync with His. Our soul also has the power to reject the pleadings of the Spirit if it chooses.

The spirit is the element in humanity which gives us the ability to have an intimate relationship with God and hear His still small voice. The human spirit then in correct relationship to God will bring the soul into subjection to God and the mind and will into subjection to the soul.

A soul in tune with the Spirit will say with the psalmist, “Praise the Lord O my soul” (Psalm 103).