I don't have a soul. I have a body. I am a soul whose true self is revealed when no one is watching.
Many times when the discussion turns to the soul, we talk about having a soul. That flow of thought can easily lead us to consider that our soul is some inner component of our earthly body like our heart and lungs. I like the way of thinking about the soul expressed above. But seriously, how many of us really stop the merry-go-round and quietly ponder the soul and what it means? We’re generally just focused on getting along and getting by in this life aren’t we? After all, that’s quite a chore in itself. Occasionally, we even refer to someone we pity as “that poor soul”.
The Roman architect Vitruvius first proposed that the human body could be fit within a circle, representing the divine, and a square, representing the worldly. That gave rise to the theory of microcosm, man representing the cosmos in miniature—created in God’s own image. Leonardo Da Vinci was able to actually draw this concept, keeping man at the center of each symbol, by lowering the square and positioning Vitruvian Man with arms and legs spread in the circle while overlaying Virtuvian Man standing with legs together and arms outstretched in the square. And the Roman cross that held Christ’s body in much the same image as Vitruvian Man assures all of us that He defeated death and secured eternal life for those souls who believe.
I subscribe to the notion that the principle job description of us human beings is to grow our character, because I believe the essence of that word is who I am; my personality, values, spirituality, beliefs. In short, it’s who I am when no one is watching—soul. We wear many masks as we journey through the days, but there is always one true face behind them all.
The dance begins when we turn inward to our own still center. Our ego is constantly chattering about all the things that we need to be doing and it dominates much of our thoughts and thinking life. Once we become aware of the presence of our own consciousness observing the ego raising up yet another thought to vie for our attention, we are on the path to comprehending our essential identity as a conscious being.
It’s obvious to all of us that we human beings are mortal. Our bodies are informed by this extraordinary thing we call life and are indivisibly connected to the soul of our presence. But there is also a mysterious element to our existence that transcends this life and is eternally spiritual. An element that is not shared by any other creation and one that is not so obvious unless we pursue it and are open to the possibility.
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