Soul
- Lucian@going2paris.net
- Oct 11, 2019
- 2 min read
Updated: Oct 13, 2019
Since the topic of this post is soul, I should start with this video of James Brown performing “Night Train.” Such passion!
Now to get serious for a moment.
I borrow the following from David Brooks who wrote these words when discussing what sustained Frederick Douglass in his fight against slavery.
It is the belief that all humans have souls. It is the belief that all people of all races have a piece of themselves that has no size, weight, color or shape, but which gives them infinite value and dignity.
It is the belief that our souls make us all radically equal. Our brains and bodies are not equal, but our souls are. It is the belief that the person who is infuriating you most right now still has a soul and so is still, deep down, beautiful and redeemable. It is the belief that when all is said and done all souls have a common home together, a final resting place as pieces of a larger unity.
When people hold fast to their awareness of souls, then they have a fixed center among the messiness of racial reconciliation and they give each other grace. If they lose the concept of the soul, they’ve lost everything.
in the book “If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Happy,” the author explains how pursuing superiority over others is, as he calls it, a deadly sin for happiness. (We should pursue being the best we can be but don’t use others as our only benchmark.)
Hmmm. Maybe in our hyper competitive lives, we can easily get caught up in the race and loose track of what is really important. Maybe I am starting to find some answers? 🤙 😁
Not sure how the comments show up on your blog, but this one is on "Soul." (1) I buy the connection between lack of happiness and lives that are not properly centered. (2) I don't think the cause of lives that are not centered is necessarily competition. Competition isn't necessarily bad - it's a key part of the human animal. Yes, you can have too much of about anything, but when it comes to lack of centered lives, I don't think competition is really the culprit. My two cents.