According to a rabbinic parable,[1] when
God was creating the world, God shared a secret with the angels: human beings will be created in the image of
God. The angels were jealous and
outraged. Why should humans be entrusted
with such a precious gift when they are flawed mortals? Surely if humans find out their true power
they will abuse it. If humans discover
they are created in God’s image, they will learn to surpass us! So the angels decided to steal God’s image.
Once the divine image was in the angels’ hands, they needed
to pick a place to hide it so that humans would never find it. The held a meeting and brainstormed. (I imagine they used flipcharts and markers!) The angel Gabriel suggested that they hide
God’s image at the top of the highest mountain peak. The other angels objected, “One day humans
will learn to climb and they will find it there.” The angel Michael said, “Let’s hide it at the
bottom of the sea.” “No,” the other
angels chimed in, “humans will find a way to dive to the bottom of the sea and
they’ll find it there.” One by one the
angels suggested hiding places, but they were all rejected.
And then Uriel, the wisest angel of all, stepped forward and
said, “I know a place where they will never look for it.” Then the angels hid the precious holy image
of God deep within the human soul. And
to this day God’s image lies hidden in the very place we are least likely to
search for it; so close, and yet so far away.
The Christian mystics express a similar understanding of the
soul as the seat of the image of God in us.
In one of his sermons, Meister Eckhart, wrote that “[T]here
is a power in the soul which touches neither time nor flesh, flowing from the
spirit, remaining in the spirit, altogether spiritual. In this power, God is
ever verdant and flowering in all the joy and all the glory that He is in
Himself. There is such heartfelt delight, such inconceivably deep joy as none
can fully tell of, for in this power the eternal Father is ever begetting His
eternal Son without pause. . .’[2] According to Eckhart, Christ, who is
the image of God, is continually being born in the soul.
St. John of the Cross tells us that “The
center of the soul is God; and, when the soul has attained to [God] according
to the whole capacity of its being, which is the strength and virtue of the
soul, it will have reached the last and the deep center of the soul, which will
be when with all its powers it loves and understands and enjoys God.”[3] St. John is inviting us to look deep within
ourselves, in the center of the soul, to satisfy our desire for God. Listen to what your soul is saying to
you. Why is that so hard to do?
The rabbinic parable offers some
clues. The angels were “jealous and
outraged.” Human beings were thought
unworthy of such a precious gift. The
angels wanted it for themselves. When we
are consumed with guilt and shame, feeling unworthy of this gift, and when we
are consumed with envy and rivalry, focused on the regard of others, it is hard
to listen to the soul. We don’t even try
to connect with the image of God within us.
In his correspondence with the churches
in Corinth, St. Paul writes something astonishing. He says that we should no longer regard
anyone from a human point of view, but rather in terms of the image of God that
they bear “in Christ.” When we are “in
Christ,” it is like we are a new person.
The past no longer defines us.
God doesn’t hold our trespasses against us! In Christ, God is reconciling the world to Himself
– including you and me.[4]
God became human in Christ Jesus –
allowing him to become “sin” or separate from God – so that we might become the
righteousness of God; so that we might become transparent to the image of God
in us. Our transparency to God is made
possible, in the words of St. Irenaeus of Lyon, through "the Word of God,
our Lord Jesus Christ, Who did, through His transcendent love, become what we
are, that He might bring us to be even what He is Himself."[5]
In the face of Christ Jesus, we see
reflected the image of God in us. Thou
art that!
The question of whether we deserve this
gift is moot. God shares God’s life and
love with us because that it what it is God’s nature to do. The
question is, will we listen to what our soul is saying to us? Will we accept God’s forgiveness and the invitation
to become transparent to God’s love?
Fear of being unworthy gets in the way
of listening to our soul. So, too, does preoccupation with what other
people think about us. This is what
Jesus is getting at in his teaching about receiving our reward from God in
secret, rather than in public from other people. We get caught up in envy and rivalry, looking
to others to reflect our identity and secure our reputation, rather than looking
within, in secret.
The word “secret” here is mystikos in Greek, with the connotation
of mysterious or even clandestine. Our
identity is hidden in Christ, in the soul.
It is mysterious and can only be discovered as we listen to our
soul. We are like secret agents
operating undercover, while people mistake us for someone other than who we are. The reward we truly desire is communion in
God’s life and love, which is always available to us in secret. We need only stop seeking for ourselves
outside of ourselves, and listen to what our soul is saying to us instead.
The Christian mystics of every
generation are emphatic about this: fulfillment comes from receiving our
identity from God alone. “The soul that
is attached to anything, however much good there may be in it, will not arrive
at the liberty of Divine union. For whether it be a strong wire rope or a
slender and delicate thread that holds the bird, it matters not, if it really
holds it fast; for until the cord be broken, the bird cannot fly.” And yet, paradoxically, St. John of the
Cross also says, “Now that I no
longer desire all, I have it all without desire.” [6]
When we entrust ourselves entirely to God, we receive more
than we can ask for or imagine: the heavenly treasure of communion with God in
which all things find their being. We
can relate to people and situations with a sense of freedom, no longer
outsourcing our identity and happiness to them.
When we are in touch with our soul, we will know how to deal with
circumstances that used to drive us crazy!
This was the source of St. Paul’s serenity in the many difficult
circumstances he faced in his life and ministry: “as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing;
poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.”[7] This is the language of the mystics. It is the peace which surpasses
understanding, the peace that the world cannot give. It is the fruit of listening to what your soul
is saying.
During the season of Lent, I invite you
to consider the following questions, suggested by Rabbi Naomi Levy,[8]
to help you reconnect or deepen your connection with your soul. What
has my soul being trying to say to me that I’ve been ignoring? Set aside some time to listen, free from the
usual daily preoccupations and pressures.
Whether it is 10 minutes in the morning or a five-day silent retreat,
take all the time you need to listen to your soul. You may be surprised by what you hear.
What activities and experiences nourish my soul? Imagine your life as a diet, and examine the
balance of soul food vs. junk food that you are consuming. Don’t spend life eating that which does not
satisfy, when you can feast on the bread of heaven.
What does my soul want to heal that my ego is too stubborn
or afraid to acknowledge? “In the inner stillness where meditation
leads, the Spirit secretly anoints the soul and heals our deepest wounds.” You may not even be conscious of what needs
healing, but God is. Become willing to
rest in God’s love and you will be healed at the deepest levels of your being.
What does my soul want me to do? The temptation is to rush into action out of
guilt or pride, rather than taking the time to discern what is mine to do. Ignore the voices telling you what you should
do. Listen instead to the invitations to
love that your soul is whispering. You
may well be responding to those invitations already. Give yourself credit for it! Obedience means “to listen.” Listen to your soul and allow it to guide
you. This is the meaning of holy
obedience. This is the key to the
observance of a holy Lent. Listen.
[1]
Naomi Levy, Einstein and the Rabbi:
Searching for the Soul (New York: Flatiron Books, 2017), p. 31-32.
[2]
Meister Eckhart: Sermons & Treatises,
trans. and ed. M. O’C. Walshe (Longmead, Shaftsbury, Dorset, Great Britain:
Element Books, 1979), 1:74.
[4]
2 Corinthians 5:16-21.
[6]
St. John of the Cross, Dark Night of the
Soul.
[7]
2 Corinthians 6:10.
[8]
Levy, p.32.
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