Oh my soul!

I don’t know how much other people think about their souls. I am not even aware of when I first began thinking of mine. It might have started that summer at camp when each morning, before we began our prayers, one of the counselors would talk in depth about one of the prayers we were about to recite. The prayer I remember is one that began, “my G-d, the soul you have given me is pure…”

I was overwhelmed with the thought of the gift I had been given. Imagine! All of us were given a pure soul as a gift at birth. Realizing that, I understood that I had an obligation to keep it pure.

I began to think of what fouls the soul. Surely hatred, clearly hurtful acts, jealousy, insensitivity, and deceit. All of those are products of our own making– all things we can teach ourselves to avoid. We can reason, plan, understand, and choose how we act. As we change our behavior, our thoughts and feelings also change.

But what of outside influences? How do we ensure that the soul is not polluted?

Portrayals of violence pollute the soul. They reduce human beings to mere flesh and blood, as dispensible as an old newspaper. Sensational news with details of violence, injury, sadistic acts, and murder pollute the soul. Details of torture, graphic pictures pollute the soul.

Just thinking about all this makes me want to flee to the safety of things that enrich and nourish my soul. And the world is full of so many:

The closeness of my husband, the warmth of my children, the sweetness of my grandchildren, the kindness of my friends and relatives, the warmth of the sun, the blueness of the sky, the garden glistening with dew, the trees, heavy with fruit, the aroma of jasmine and lemon and roses, the sparkling of the night sky, the smile of a stranger, the ability to walk hand in hand…

And memories- of people I loved, of beautiful places, of Shubert’s “Unfinished Symphony” in St. Marco’s Square in Venice and of “Aida” at the Baths of Caracalla in Rome and of “The Nutcracker” at the St. Petersburg Conservatory- and earlier in Lawton, Oklahoma. Memories of my wedding and the early days of marriage, of giving birth to each of the children and the triumphant arrival home…

There are so many.

Sometimes as the days and weeks go by, we forget that our soul needs maintenance. We need to keep ourselves free of hatred and unkindness and insensitivity, guard ourselves from the assault of pollution from the outside world, and nourish our souls with the healthy elements of our life and experience.

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