The soul

the Rev's dream car

Today students were encouraged to explore their identity. To kick things off we watched an episode of the Simpsons where Bart sells his soul. He loses his sense of humour, he realises that he won’t be going to heaven without his soul and in the end he wants his soul back.

Steve demonstrates identity

Steve was asked to step up and help me out. I asked him to raise his left hand. He did. Then I asked him to raise his right hand and clap them together. I then asked the class what would happen if we chopped off Steve’s hands (apart from me not being allowed to help out in spirituality class). The question is would Steve stop being Steve. No. So his identity is deeper than his body.

The Rev’s Dream Car

As awesome as this car is it can’t do anything by itself. It needs a driver to make it go. We are the same. The soul is what makes the body go; the soul uses its body to express itself.

The maniac and the grandma

Mmmm Chocolate

In our small groups I asked Steve how he would drive a car. He said he would drive it fast and probably be susceptible to road rage. So we can tell what kind of person Steve might be by the way he drives his car; angry. Winoma on the other hand thought she would drive like a grandma so perhaps we might say she is careful (fearful). So what you do reveals what kind of person you are, what your soul is like.

Chocolate, heroin and who’s in control

Your body tells you when it’s hungry. But sometimes you eat even though you aren’t hungry, why? Well sometimes eating food makes us feel good. The female species likes to eat chocolate particularly when they are sad. The body tells the soul “If you give me chocolate I will make you feel better, or happy.”

A heroin addict is a person who has given primary control to their body. They find it very difficult to say no to their addiction. Next time you have a craving for chocolate say 'no' to your body and see what happens.

Morality and the soul

So have you ever felt guilty? Some students agreed they felt guilty when they lied or when they stole something. Here is evidence of the soul affecting the body. When you do something you know is wrong the soul lets the body know and you feel guilt (emotion). The body might crave chocolate or heroin but the body can not make you do something against your will. You eat chocolate because you want to. For the heroin addict it is much harder, the body will make them really pay if they don’t give in to their craving, but ultimately the soul can choose. You lie because you choose to (perhaps to keep out of trouble).

Your soul and spirituality

If you believe you have a soul then think about where it comes from, and where it goes. Let me suggest that we are made by God. He made us both a physical and spiritual being. This means that we live in two spheres at the same time. We obviously live in the physical world but we are also able to plug into God. You can actually connect your soul with God’s soul. We can choose to try and get to know God or ignore him. However, fundamentally you have been made to be connected with God and without that connection you will always be searching for something to fill god’s gap in your life. the Rev