Proper Presbyterian protocol demanded that I be brought up in the “nurture and admonition” of the church. In my case, they had to go heavy on the “admonition”. One of the tools employed in my indoctrination was the Westminster Catechism, beginning with the Children’s edition which asked “What else did God give Adam and Eve beside a body?” Answer: “God gave them souls that will never die.” [Remember, they did not have belly buttons!] Question 19: “Have you a soul as well as a body? Answer: Yes, I have a soul that will never die.”
As Answer 20 and the bumper sticker exclaim “The Bible says it; I believe it; that settles it.” Whoa! Can’t we just hold our horses here a minute and do a bit of soul searching? Out here on the outer orbits of my little personal existence, I’m having a hard time with stuff related to the after life. Will I finally get to meet friendly Casper? Will the words of Blood, Sweat and Tears “I know there ain’t no heaven, but pray there ain’t no hell” come to life at my death?
Before that comes to past, bear with me as I bare what proports to be my soul on this matter that seems to matter to some people. If we check out “soul” in the Merriam-Webster, we find ourselves on several pages at once: 1] the spiritual part of a person that is believed to give life to the body and in many religions is believed to live forever; 2] a person’s deeply felt moral and emotional nature; 3] the ability of a person to feel kindness and sympathy for others, to appreciate beauty and art, etc.
According to Andrea Lynn’s internet article: The term “soul food” didn’t become common until the 1960s. With the rise of the civil rights and Black nationalist movements during the 1960s, many Black Americans sought to reclaim their part of the American cultural legacy. As terms like “soul brother,” “soul sister,” and “soul music” were being used, and people began to use the term “soul food” to describe the recipes that Black Americans had been cooking for generations. As a native son of Mississippi, that soul power was all over me like white on rice.
Let’s get to the juicy stuff before we run out of space here. When Ella Fitzgerald sings her semi-sultry song, you need to remember that Westminster Catechism, written in Edinburgh in 1648. King Charles was about to literally lose his head, and Cromwell’s folk were stirring the Puritan pot of dissent. The framers were insistent on separating the soul from our nasty bodies. So how dare this lady of soul music sing such a song: My heart is sad and lonely! /For you I sigh, for you dear only/ Why haven’t you seen it?/ I’m all for you Body and Soul.
That classic hymn “It Is Well With My Soul” points us to a flaw in this soul searching endeavor. When you listen to the words, you can’t help but be struck by a note of spiritual narcissism that finds its source in the quaint Catechism mentality that pushes us to just worry about our own souls and the devil take the hindmost. As I understand the very heart and soul of the Gospel, that until we are all soul brothers and soul sisters who see that all bodies and souls matter in God’s scheme for the greater good, we’re just embellishing ghost stories from seventeenth century England while whistling Dixie.
Crawford, I guess you had to be reared in Mississippi to follow the twists and turns of this blog? To me, it is sort of like your aversion to prayers of confession, which I think are crucial to Christian growth.
Currie
Crawford, you had even more fun than usual with the word play in this one. You didn’t mention the background of this hymn, a man writing it after the death of his family. I’d say the theme is peace more than soul.
Interesting this evening the Elder Sister on “Call the Midwife” is experiencing “a dark night of the soul,” doubting her faith in God. Feeling lost from God. How often do we all experience that feeling of loss?
As I age, I find myself wondering more, IF it is well with my soul?