photo credit: fauxto_digit
"The human soul is God's treasury, out of which he coins unspeakable riches." ~ Henry Ward Beecher
Soul.
What is that, anyway?
The dictionary defines soul as the immaterial essence, animating principle, or actuating cause of an individual life.
Hmmm….
As I think about this, I'm drawn to a time many years ago. Just an ordinary day, and I was out cutting the lawn. Nothing at all special about this day…and everything special about this day.
And isn't every day like that. Days filled with the seemingly ordinary (…no matter how truly ordinary or not we see our lives). A cup of coffee in the morning. Wearing that favorite pair of shoes. Conversation with a loved one. Playing with your kids. Bedtime rituals. Sleep.
Don't get me wrong – I am all for new experiences, for living life to its fullest, to feeling fully alive. And much of these "living life to the fullest" moments might feel anything but ordinary.
Within all of that, though, the ordinary moments of our day.
…I was just out cutting the lawn. The sun shining, on a typical summer day.
And in a moment, I just felt this deep connection to the Universe, to God, to something beyond. It was as if everything was brighter, that the sky surrounded me with its presence, that the earth was alive with newness.
It's a feeling that is hard to fully describe. In that instant, in those moments…I felt that connection to a deeper part of me…to a deeper part of this world.
Soul.
This moment, in the seemingly very ordinary of my day…. Not something I was seeing with my eyes, and yet I was. Not something I was hearing with my ears, and yet I was.
That connection to something deeper within you, the voice that speaks if you quiet yourself and listen.
Soul. It's within us all.
I've just finished reading a book – Soul to Soul Parenting, by Annie Burnside.
Annie has written about her spiritual journey, and how she continues that journey today with her husband and their three children. Just like any other family – the Burnside family has moments where kids argue, where parents become stressed, where daily life causes moments that are challenging.
Except.
Except that Annie and her family have built opportunities into their days to more fully connect to soul.
…in the ordinary of their days.
This is a wonderful book, with practical ideas to more fully reach, teach, and love from a soul level.
…from that place where we truly DO feel connected to a deeper part of our own being…of the world around us.
As I let these words from Annie soak more deeply into my soul, I am drawn to my own family. Are there ways that I can be more fully connected to my soul? Are there ways that the ordinary of my day can be more fully infused with a deeper sense of my being? And, how am I helping my children to more fully connect to the soul of their being?
Annie's book will give you actionable ideas on ways to do this, for YOUR family. That's what is so great about this – there are a number of easy to do things that will bring that connection more deeply into being.
If you're looking for ways to more fully connect with your children, or children that are a part of your life in some way – Soul to Soul Parenting is so worth reading.
And as you go forth in your day today, may you know that there is extraordinary in the normal-ness of your day.
Soak it in. Soak in the beauty of this day, the beauty of being alive, the beauty of getting to do all that this day brings!
