‘Nothing can be
compared to the great beauty and capabilities of a soul; however keen our
intellects may be, they are as unable to comprehend them as to comprehend God,
for, as He has told us, He created us in His own image and likeness.”
- Saint Teresa of Avila – Spanish Mystic and Nun
Ancius
Boethius (d. 526 C.E.), a philosopher who bridged ancient philosophy and
Christianity, defined eternity as the “entire and perfect possession of endless
life at a single instance.” He said “anything which exists in time…cannot
properly be considered eternal, for anything in time does not embrace the
infinity of life all at once, since it does not embrace the future of the
past. Only that which understands and possesses the infinity of endless
life, that lacks no future nor has lost any past, can properly be considered
eternal. Such an eternal thing fully possesses itself, is always present
to itself, and possesses all infinity of changing time before itself…”
So
what does suggest about our soul, which is called eternal but is present in our
human body? Although I believe our souls do not possess the omniscience
(all knowing) of God, our soul fully possesses itself, is present to it, and is
knowing of itself and God. To be eternal is to be “not of space and
time”, but present within our human body which exists in space and
time. I believe that I am not only human to which God through the
Holy Spirit and others can make God known, I have an internal compass of love
which is knowing of itself and God, called the soul. It is the
balance between the soul and humanity that is so amazing and breathtakingly
beautiful. When the Bible writes of Adam and Eve eating the apple
from the tree of knowledge, it symbolized our focus on our physicality (we saw
our nakedness) and that we no longer “know or sense” God. I believe that
God always intended that our humanity and physicality be balanced with our
soul, but we must remember.
No comments:
Post a Comment