I'm A Soul Man

Genesis 2:7

"And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."

The breath word used (of life) neshama "nesh-aw-maw" (Hebrew) means vital breath, divine inspiration, intellect; a blast, (that) breath(-eth), inspiration, soul, spirit. It is only used in the Bible when human beings are being discussed from what I can discern.

I have been considering "The Weight of Glory" essay by C.S. Lewis. I have to admit that there are times in the essay quite often that I get lost in C.S. Lewis' ideas and writing. I was used to having this happen to me in Physics class. But, with writing, this does not happen often. It seemed as if God, through the confluence of circumstances, brought me anew to this piece. The unnerving realization that I have come to is that I thought that I had understood the essay before. Reading it with fresh eyes reveals that there is much learning yet to do before I can sit for the exam on this one.

I don't plan to give up though. I plan to still work through the essay word-by-word to see if I can follow his ideas home like children with breadcrumbs. May the crows of life--the cares that squawk about me--be silent and leave the crumbs alone.

The truth that I do get thus far is the idea that being immortal and eternal soul carries a blessing that is burdensome. Yet, the burden, far finer than gold (beatific presence with God forever) is worth the effort to carry. The "weight of glory" causes us to sense that this present world is not all that there is. The radically incomplete weightiness of life--in both joys and sorrows--points to a better world. We all have a hunger that is not physical. Instead, it is a spiritual gnawing for something or someone more. The world can provide its best banquet of food, wine, and intimacies (let the reader understand), and yet even in our satiation, we still hunger.

The breath of God in creation is heavy. Yet, it is also light in that His Spirit raises us above circumstances of life. It fills us up and raises us above earthly things to the place where we can see the eternal in the everyday.

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