A beloved friend recently asked for my definition of the human soul. Until then, I had never tried to answer, even for myself, that simple yet profound question. Mindful that each of us has her or his own definition or concept of the human soul, today this description comes to me.
The human soul is a space, a room, between the cosmos and each person’s consciousness. It is the passageway between the pure Holy Spirit which connects all life and each individual’s consciousness. I imagine two doors on either side of this space, one to and from pure Spirit and the other to and from each individual’s consciousness.
I imagine that we leave that room through the door to consciousness when we are born and become conscious of the world around us. The soul is not the only place we find the Holy Spirit: it often passes through that room on its way to our consciousness. But it is each person’s safe harbor. We return to the soul in deep thought, in meditation, and in sleep. The soul informs our dreams, expands our creativity, and can guide our actions and bring us peace because the Holy Spirit is always directly accessible there.
I imagine that we leave that room through the door to the Holy Spirit when we die.
Until then, I imagine that it is up to us to keep both those doors open and to care, each of us, for her or his soul so as to honor the Holy Spirit, to express gratitude for its gifts, and to keep that space safe and inviting for ourselves, for the Spirit, and for anyone with whom we choose to share our experience of that room – to bare our soul.
