What do you do when you find yourself searching to fill a void in life that you can’t really define. A void so deep that you just know somewhere deep down at the core of who you are – at the depths of your soul – you are here for more than this… 

How many of us still wake up in the morning, look in the mirror and ask the age-old questions: Why am I here and what’s my purpose? Can my life (or what I do today) really make a difference and matter?  Maybe you’ve had those days where you’re playing a soundtrack of U2’s song “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for” in your head over and over again… And sometimes… if I’m being really honest, I have those mundane, or even worse – those really difficult days where I feel as if there’s a dark cloud following my every move. You might even ask the question, “Isn’t there more to life than this”? 

I’ve certainly had my seasons and during these times I’ve been led into (sometimes kicking and screaming) a journey digging deep and doing the tough work that goes along with soul searching… And, interestingly enough this has led me to even deeper questions… What is the soul? Why do I feel the need to search it? And, in the famous words of Tina Turner, “what’s love got to do with it”?  (Yep…. welcome to what goes on inside of my crazy brain!  )

Well, if you can relate to any of that then I’d like to take you on a journey through exploring the Soul from a number of different perspectives; philosophical, biblical, scientific, and then a little about what that may mean for us all.  And, when I say a “journey”, I mean you’re really going to have to buckle up and hang in there as this one may get deeper than we’re used to going.  

However, my hope is that through this, we will all be more able and prepared to embrace the beauty of getting to know ourselves at a deeper level while resting in and appreciating the mystery and awe revealed to us about the divine and the beauty in the people that we’re surrounded by. 

What is the Soul? 

The Soul (in both religion and philosophy) is often defined as that immaterial, incorporeal, invisible something that makes up your personality, your unique individuality.  It’s something that you can often feel, yet struggle to explain or articulate in words… yet deep down in the depths of who you are you acknowledge it exists.

PHILOSOPHY

Philosophical views have been debated for thousands of years on this topic and the relationship of mind, body and soul. E.g. Plato, Rene’ Descartes, Aristotle and more… For me, Aristotle has one of the most relatable views… Aristotle saw the soul’s very essence as defined by its relationship to the body. 

Take the analogy of a table…  If you order a new kitchen table and it comes in a box that you have to assemble, then it’s NOT (yet) a table without ALL its parts – it’s just parts of a table.  You don’t have a table while the top and legs are sitting in a box on the ground; it’s not until you see the parts come together, integrated, and operating as a whole, that you actually have a table. 

I can relate strongly to this… Just look at how much one part of YOU affects the whole YOU. This is where we get our views of Mind, Body, and Spirit…  Here’s some simple examples. 

If my mind is not right (I’m mentally in a bad place), then my body feels exhausted, fatigue, run down

Likewise, if I miss a few workouts (body), then my whole family can sense it! My frustration levels rise, I start to feel a lack of focus, confidence, and even lose my ability to manage stress as easily. 

And, when things get a little out of balance, it can lead to a downward spiral, right? Mental state is stressed, body too fatigued to break the cycle with exercise… Mental state moves from stress to deep worry or possibly depression, and the body gets even more exhausted… And, often times it’s in these seasons of life when our immune system gets low and we’re more susceptible to sickness and end up in bed recovering physically and mentally until we heal.    

It’s the same with our spirit, or the spiritual aspect of our life. You can know the Bible (or your religion) inside & out and have a ton of head knowledge, but until you can make the connection between head and heart and truly experience something that transcends your physical being you’ll likely struggle to ‘connect the dots’. When we operate out of our own strength versus surrendering to the concept that we are very small part of something much bigger than ourselves, we end up in loneliness, frustration, depression, and/or anxiety – and there’s that downward spiral again… 

BIBLICAL

In the Bible, the Hebrew word for soul is nephesh and is used throughout the Old Testament to refer to the living, breathing creature animated by the very breath of God:

Genesis 2:7 says, “Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (nishmath hayyim) and the man became a living soul (nephesh hayyah).” 

Similarly, in the New Testament, nephesh was translated into Greek as psyche, which again, refers to the living, breathing and animated human life.  For example, we see Jesus speaking about the psyche when he says things like. . . 

“If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life (psyche) for my sake, you will save it.” (Matthew 16:25)

Or again… 

“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul (psyche)? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

Here’s another… 

” . . .I tell you, do not be anxious about your life (psyche), what you will eat or what you will drink. . .”  (Matthew 6:25)

Seeing a trend here?  The word psyche is translated to both the English words “life” and “soul” almost as if they are interchangeable.  

We also tend to think of the soul as the part of us which survives death (eternal in nature) and carries on our ‘being’ until the day of resurrection. However, the Bible doesn’t seem all that interested in that view as there’s only one mention of it in the entire New Testament! In (Revelation 6:9), the writer depicts imagery where there are “souls” under the alter asking God how much longer they have to wait until God completes his final judgement on the world. 

Ok, so all of that is great, but what about when we layer on the more technical dimension of science to the equation. . . 

SCIENCE

One author, and physicist, says that modern Neuroscientists are beginning to redefine the soul (scientifically) and describe it as “the unique neuronal-synaptic signature integrating brain and body through a complex electrochemical flow of neurotransmitters.”.  He goes on to say that just as we have unique fingerprints, our brains and the way they are “wired” are done in a very individual and unique way.  This almost feels like an electrical wiring that ties the mind and body together in such a unique way that it’s almost like a fingerprint specific to YOU!

Neuroplasticity, on the other hand, is scientifically known as the ability of the brain to physically change form and reorganize synaptic connections throughout a person’s life, experiences, and circumstances.  

Yes, this means that your brain can actually be (not just re-trained) but physically reshaped and rewired by the repeated thoughts and beliefs, decisions and choices you make, the experiences you encounter, and even the circumstances you endure throughout the course of your entire life! Or, as one psychiatrist and author puts it, “Those neurons that fire together, wire together!” (Curt Thompson, Anatomy of the Soul). 

AHA! This is why HABITS are important when it comes to becoming the person we WANT to be!?

Ultimately, scientists still grapple with assuming that something immaterial (like the soul) can interact with something material (the brain and body) without any exchange of energy? 

So, if the soul is the sum-total of YOU, then the real question comes down to “who are you?”. That might sound overly simplistic, but looking beneath the surface at the depths of YOU is far from easy. You’ve got to be willing to do the tough work; looking in the mirror and being prepared to face yourself… acknowledging, wrestling with, and accepting what you see.  Then, of course, there’s the question of what to do with that once you have it…?

As my friend Brian would say, sometimes it starts with “confronting our own demons and staring at the darkest part of YOU square in the eyes… standing toe to toe with our inner-self and learning to accept all of us without shame or guilt.” 

Why would we want to do that? Remember, if we go back to table analogy of the soul… all of our parts have a seat at the table – they are all part of YOU; an integrated whole.  And, because of that we are at our best when those parts are all working in harmony. Anything left unchecked can lead to the opposite; dissonance… or dis-integration. 

A good healthy search for identity, existential purpose and our shared experience with others should ultimately leads us, as humans, towards unity rather than a fight for uniformity.  I think if there’s one thing we, as humanity, can agree on in this time of polarizing division, skepticism and a world full of distractions, is the importance of unity in our very existence, our common humanity. 

And, if we make time and space to give ourselves grace and press into the depths of our souls, then it becomes possible to extend that very same grace to those around us. After all, this life, our uniqueness, and our shared contribution as a family, a community, a global collective… is (in and of itself) a gift that we’re given more than a burden to be embraced. 

This is what I hope to continue to walk out with you as we take this journey, together! 

Until next time… 

With love…. happy soul searching!