"The old people say that each object in the universe – seashell, bat's wing, pine cone, patch of lichen – contains some fragment of our missing soul, and so our soul is thin." – Robert Bly
When I saw the above line from the great poet, Robert Bly, all I could say ask myself was, "missing soul"? I'm not sure about the soul I already have!
But, Bly pushes the question further. If our soul has been "thinned" by those parts missing, what will thicken it?
Questions of soul can mean so much to harried caregivers. What happens to our souls when we are called by the needs of others to rush constantly across the day?
I worry about how much you may let others steal some of your most precious light. What happens when a patient or family member or supervisor fires angry arrows at your heart? How do you restore your soul when this happens?
One thing that sometimes helps me is to remember that the condemnation of others is not the condemnation of God's. Yet, all of us are stuck in a society that offers both blessings and curses and we worry about what others think of us and say to us.
At its best, society, and the rules of organizations, can preserve safety and fairness – safety for us to pursue our dreams, fairness so that the powerful do not take advantage of the weak.
At its worst, society can operate with more brutality than did primitive humans.
It's so often hard to recall that we "thicken" and enrich our souls by what we give, not by what is taken from us. We never need to give away to any other person or any other organization power over our souls.
Still, I have seen so many sell their souls to keep their jobs. Sadly, we have all seen those who punish and attack others not because it's fair but because they have been "ordered" to punish.
Why is the admitting clerk at the entrance to the ER so often rude to the suffering patient that stands before her? Why do some nurses refuse to answer the call lights of patients that are "cranky" and argumentative? Why are so many executives so insensitive to the needs of first line caregivers?
Not a single one of these would acknowledge meanness. Each would describe themselves as loving. All would use the excuse that they are "simply human."
We may be human. But, there is nothing simple about it. Our souls truly do need enrichment and refreshment. Love cannot redeem us unless we live it, unless we love those who suffer in hospitals and live the punishment of imprisonment or who live in abusive environments.
What a hard thing it is to Love. How soul-thickening.
-Reverend Erie Chapman
Journal of Sacred Work 
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