Besouled Bodies: Embodied Souls

I wrote the first exam of my sophomore year this early winter -yet strangely warm- afternoon. T'was on the subject of Theology more or less. 'Wrote', however, is more than likely too strong a word for what I did- I merely filled in 100 more oval than circular bubbles with a number 2 pencil probably darker than they needed to be and almost never within the provided lines as suggested in the instructions. Nonetheless, complete it I did, and thus came to an end my first theology class.

[Here is where I should stop to tell the reader: the last blog thingamugum I wrote in, namely xanga, could rarely be understood by even my most intimate of friends, for it tended not to follow the rules of grammar... or straight thinking.... or anything at all resembling clear and logical thought, really. So, I thought to myself, perhaps with a clean slate on this here 'Lo! and Behold!' page, that I would begin by expelling those previous doubts of my hidden intellect and true genius and write with such clarity and style so as to wow and astound my audience- maybe even use a thesaurus to put a new twist on old words in order to sound what they call 'fresh'. But, my friends (I realize that you may be somewhat shocked at this quite sudden change in our relationship status: from mere 'reader' to 'audience' to 'friend'- however, please remain calm, I may not even mean it, although i would like to think that if you care what I think enough to have read this far that we may consider each other as more than enemies), what good are lies? I do not often make sense to myself, why should I make sense to the rest of Creation? I therefore came to the conclusion not to be what I am not, or write what I do not necessarily think, or even spellcheck this bitch. Or, apparently, curb my swearing habit. (Actually, I probably will spellcheck this, as I would at least like you to know the words I am writing, even if you fail to comprehend their meaning.) On that fine note and the warning that confusion may prevail at the end of thine reading, read on, oh brave soul!]

Perhaps the most interesting and thought-provoking wisdom that I gained from said Theology class this semester has been a truly Biblical understanding of what the 'soul' is. This is especially due to the fact (to some more suprisingly than others) that most churches, and Christians in general, are blatantly wrong on the issue. To most western christians, as they will tell you, the soul is that part of oneself that is immortal and eternal; it is the essence of who we 'really' are that continues to carry on after our bodies have died and decomposed. It is the more important part of the dyadic human, composed of body and soul. It is the part that deserves the most attention (and therefore gets it from most churches) and really the thing that Jesus came to save and restore. This exegesis is especially comforting to those who do not like their physical bodies and like the excuse that the 'real them' is not their body but their soul. We have even come to mix and match the word for soul with personality, as if it is the realest and most naked and pure form of that non-physical entity: the Image of G_D given to humanity alone.

And yet, if realized in its original meaning and the very essence of the word, Soul is given to the animals as well, for 'all' it is is the breath of life given by G_D to all living things. It is what keeps us alive, the G_Dbreath that sustains our bodily existence. Thus the animals have been given this 'soul' as well. You cannot save someone's soul, just as an animal cannot make a confession of faith and have its soul saved (as if your confession is what saved you anyways... but more on that at a later time when i feel like taking on most people's doctrine of salvation) . When you die, you are utterly and completely dead, your breath of life (read soul) is no longer. It is not without the power of G_D that you, in your bodily entirety, will ever live again, be raised to life and experience a life after death. The hope in one's soul for that is a hope in power that one dos not have and does not exist. So then, what should the Christian community focus on in order to 'save' people? In the words of Gutherie,

"The biblical answer is that we should be concerned about neither bodies nor souls but about human beings– people... What kind of ambassadors for Christ wold we be if we said in effect, ' G_D loves you- but of course G-D only cares about saving your soul. G_D is not interested in whether you are hungry, poor, sick, homeless overworked, and underpaid. All that is unimportant.'"

Well, of course we wouldn't be representing Jesus at all. I especially like this doctrine of the soul as it points to the importance of social justice and caring for the oppressed. Manytimes I feel that it is the emphasis on the 'saving of the soul' that so often overlooks the physical conditions of those it is trying to reach. Lets try and give them truly good news.
...
This entry is way too long. I apologize. AND I forgot to use spellcheck.
love,
me