This afternoon has been extremely windy, and it made me wonder if perhaps being a soul is like holding onto a kite. The Catholic Encyclopedia says that the soul is "the ultimate internal principle by which we think, feel, and will, and by which our bodies are animated." What exactly does that mean? I don't know, but it seems to require a metaphor of movement, connectivity and sensitivity.
I think kite-flying is a very beautiful experience because it connects and involves you with movements that you otherwise could not feel. If you look up at the sky, it looks big, blue and static. But if you fly a kite in that sky, you suddenly feel the powerful pulls and pushes of the wind up there. The string tugs and dips, loosens and swoops, rises and lifts, and you become part of all that movement.
Maybe God gave us souls so that we can experience the movements beyond our normal awareness. Sometimes we are joyful in a deep, spiritual way that is more than surface-level happiness, and we can feel the wind pulling our kite-souls up by the heartstrings. Sometimes we feel restfully content and peaceful as our kite-souls drift and sway on a calm day. Sometimes we feel unsettled and anxious because difficult decisions are buffeting the kite-soul. Sometimes we feel like the world is falling apart when stormy weather seems determined to crash our kite-souls.
But no matter what is happening to the soul, it is good to acknowledge this essence and keep it flying. If we are souls, then we are constantly thinking, feeling, and willing our way to God - and that is something joyful.
The soul is the "ultimate internal principle by which we think, feel, and will, and by which our bodies are animated." I don't understand what being a soul is (and I'm not very familiar with Picasa or Microsoft Paint), but this is kind of what I imagine a kite-soul flying close to God would feel like:
~Stephanie
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