Do you ever get tired of trying to take care of all your “stuff”? There is more to us than our possessions. We have an inner life—a soul—which, while invisible to the outside world, is very real and of utmost importance. Your soul is a living thing that needs nurture, care and attention. But what exactly does a soul need?
I’m intrigued by Martha Stewart. She is the undisputed supreme authority on the proper handling and care of … well, stuff. She once devoted an entire show to the cleaning and care of wicker baskets. Using the right soap, the right brushes, drying them, stacking them, hanging them. Properly. She said it takes her a full day to properly maintain all her baskets. She also promised all her viewers that, if we took good care of our wicker baskets, they would bring us a lot of joy for years to come. As I watched this amazing basket fanatic, I began to wonder. Who, in their right mind, cares that much about their baskets? How can a show that obsesses over the non-essentials in life be so popular?
I guess it’s easy for me to poke fun at Martha Stewart, because I’m nothing like her. I don’t give a hoot about my baskets. In fact, the baskets around my house are in a total state of disrepair—they’re dry, dusty, cracked and neglected. If Martha saw them, she would probably have a heart attack. And I couldn’t care less about those dumb baskets.
I guess I’m just not obsessed with trivial things. Besides, I have more important things to do. Like washing my car. And vacuuming the inside. And wiping the windows. Inside and out. After which, I’ll spray Armor-All on the dashboard and all the plastic, and I have this little brush that I use to scrub all the crevices. And then there are the door jams and the wheels, and of course, it’s always good to use a Q-tip in the air-vents to get the dust off. I mean, to wash a car properly, it takes several hours, and if you want to change any of the fluids, and maybe steam clean the engine, then it could take the better part of the day!
I just think it’s important to keep your priorities straight, you know? You have to give attention to the things that matter.
As Americans we fill our lives with stuff. We love stuff. We want to take good care of our stuff. That’s why Martha Stewart is so popular. For you, it may not be wicker baskets, but it’s probably something—your car, your clothes, your bike, your DVD player, your computer or whatever. Or perhaps you are not so focused on your possessions, but rather on taking care of your body or improving your appearance. Either way, you give considerable time and thought to your external life—your physical property. Once you graduate and have the income, you’ll probably start to collect a lot more stuff. You will have furniture and appliances and a yard and maybe a jacuzzi and a second car and a rear-bagger mower and a Dirt-Devil vacuum with all the accessories, to name a few. And all of that stuff takes up room in your life. Unless you have money to keep buying new things, you have to take care of what you have. Before you know it, you could be spending all your free time just maintaining your stuff and not have any time for the things that really matter.
When your car needs attention, or your baskets need washing, you know what to do. Even if you have to go to a mechanic or consult Martha Stewart, you know where to bring your stuff when it needs attention. But who knows what to do with a soul? Does anyone know?
Chicken soup … Recognizing our need for spiritual nourishment, and noticing our complete inability to deal with it, someone has offered a solution. Barnes & Noble has an entire section of books that can feed chicken soup to every kind of soul there is on earth. There’s even Chicken Soup for the Baseball Fan’s Soul. (Judging from their notorious behavior, I sometimes wonder if baseball fans even have a soul, but if they do, there’s a book full of chicken soup waiting for them.) Still, I question whether a collection of sentimental anecdotes will really satisfy anyone’s soul. The trouble with chicken soup is it’s mostly noodles and water. Very little meat. All these chicken soup books make me want to write a book of my own called Man Does Not Live by Chicken Soup Alone. ...
What to listen for: Clues from the Psalms: Once you’re ready to begin listening to your soul, the Psalms can help you. They give us clues to what we should be listening for. Here are some things your soul may want to talk about: Psalm 23:2-3 teaches that the soul needs rest: “He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.” How do you rest your soul? What are green pastures and still waters for you? I have started taking a Sabbath on Sundays. After church, I go somewhere quiet and peaceful and sit with God. I may read something for my spiritual growth, or I may journal or just pray. I may go for a run through the canyons or listen to some worship music. Whatever I do, it always has the purpose of turning my attention and focus toward God. Understanding God’s love is the most restful, restoring thing you can do for your soul.
..."When we feel empty, alienated or overwhelmed, we don’t usually listen to what our soul is saying to us."... By the time I started paying attention to my soul, it had become like the wicker baskets around my house—in a total state of disrepair. ... I took a six month break from all my normal responsibilities and began exploring a deeper prayer life. The sheer absence of activity and distractions was both strange and scary. I was thrust face to face with everything I had been avoiding about myself and God. I squirmed ... I pressed on. In A Center of Quiet (IVP®, out of print but available used), David Runcorn explains how powerfully the Holy Spirit works in moments of silence. “I personally have always struggled with silence.
When I’m at home or in the car, I instinctively turn on the TV or the radio to fill the empty space.
Silence is powerful. It opens up your soul and lets out all the supressed, ignored animals—the hungry, thirsty, wild yearnings that don’t seem fit for dignified, evangelical, Bible-believing Christians. Knowing I couldn’t possibly unravel the tangled mess of thoughts, needs and emotions I had accumulated, it took me a long time before I was willing to try what Runcorn suggests—sitting quietly in prayer, listening to them all and bringing them one by one to God."...
