My friend Esther frames Vonnegut’s saying differently: do the things that make your soul happy. She and I are quiet for a moment – an oddity for the two of us – and reflect on what her statement means in the context of our conversation. She and I aren’t speaking of a short-term happiness but of a long-term one, one that is rooted in pursuing God and resting in Him.
She and I both have reason to pause; we’re worriers by nature. We like to know the outcomes. We want to lay out our plans and see them come to fruition. We want to solve the problem right then and there. She and I both know, though, that life has a way of interrupting our well-laid plans. Perhaps it’s God trying to get our attention, to show us that we don’t always have to have a plan. Sometimes we just need to rest in His care and who we are in Him.
Esther shares a story to illustrate the idea. She tells me the electricity went out at her place and, being a “girl,” she had no idea what to do. Even if she did, she couldn’t have done anything; she was sleepy from the antibiotics she’d taken. She called someone from her church, and he came over to look at the wiring. She didn’t try to help. She just sat in her chair and let him do the work he needed to do. She knew he would take care of the problem, so she rested in the fact. She laughs a little at the recollection and says that might be the mindset we need to have toward God.
She’s right, and I’m grateful to have a friend who reminds me of that truth. She is one of the ways my soul grows. We spend time together talking about our lives, our dreams, and our great God who loves us despite our worries and fears. We laugh at how silly we must sometimes seem to Him. We also laugh at how silly we each are.
That’s one way my soul grows – practicing my faith and living it out in community. The other is art. Both are important to my soul’s health. Luci Shaw, author of Breath for the Bones, puts the reality this way: “For me poetry and faith are interdependent. Each affects the other as they embrace and interpenetrate. Faith informs art, and art enhances faith. They both, for each other, are breath for the bones.”
I can’t put her words any better. I’ve always viewed my art, by which I mean my writing and drawing and any other creative endeavor, as a spiritual act. To pray most often is to write. To write is to discover truth. To draw is to laugh and delight in the act of creation. All those things bring me closer to the God who loves me, who created me to create. They knit my heart closer to His. For me, as it is for Shaw, faith and art are interdependent. They are what make my soul grow, so I will pursue them with all my might.
Image: Angie Garrett (Creative Commons)
I think you’ve inspired a new mantra for me: “Soul first.” Pretty useful decision making tool. Do what feeds the soul, feeds the world, feeds all that good around us. Thanks.
magriebler You’re welcome! You’ll have to thank Vonnegut since he’s the originator – at least, that’s who I credit. He probably borrowed the phrase from someone else, too.