Soul Mates

I've been the recipient of lots of puzzled looks the last few days, and it wasn't because of the clapping comment I made at the end of worship last week. (By the way, my comment wasn't about our inability to applaud; it was about our inability to clap in rhythm to music...we need a dose of soul!)

Which leads me back to the puzzled looks. I've been getting those from the Worship Team and this week's worship leaders as I've tried to explain what my sermon "Soul Mates" is about.

Initially, most of them thought that my sermon would be about the love between life partners, spouses. It was a reasonable guess, since they knew this week's topic was eros, one of several nuances of love, and one we most often associate with romantic or sexual love.

No, I said, it's not about that. It's about the people--yes, I said people--who touch our souls. The people who in unexplainable, profound ways stake a claim upon our hearts. The ones whose spirits commune with ours in everyday ways of words and gestures and in ways that transcend our everydayness. . .ways that are soul-full, almost sacramental. . .way beyond talk or touch.

I don't think I did a very good job of explaining myself because the blank looks remained. Oh, a couple of nice people nodded politely to help me feel better, but alas, I hadn't enlightened them at all.

Not one to give up easily, I'm going to try a different approach. I'm going to let someone else explain for me, and that someone is Richard from Texas, the para-hero of Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love. Elizabeth is trying to explain to Richard why her shattered heart will never be over David, the man with whom she has recently broken up. Elizabeth says, "I think the reason it's so hard for me to get over this guy is because I seriously believed David was my soul mate."

"He probably was," Richard offers. "Your problem is you don't understand what that word means. People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that's holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. . . . Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you. . ."

Hmmmmmmm. Does that help? Are you thinking about the people who have come into your life that, as Richard also said, "touched a place in your heart deeper than you thought you were capable of reaching"? Are you remembering those soul mates who from the very beginning you felt you were getting reacquainted with, not meeting for the first time?

If you still don't get it, just read this week's scripture. When you read the lines "When David had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul," if you still don't get it, if you can't think of a single friend or mentor or lover who has gotten to you in this way, if you've never encountered a soul mate, I encourage you to start praying for one right now. A true soul mate is someone in whom it's very easy to see all the possibilities God has created us for, and all the love, hope, and grace God is ready to offer us.

God Bless Your Heart & Soul...