In this series,
We are going to consider the state of our soul through the lens of something called parts work.
This will be an intersection of parts work and spiritual formation.
With parts work understanding us as people,
As having different facets of our being,
I like to think of this as the depths of our soul.
Which helps us to entrust the formation of our entire soul into God's care rather than just the most shiny or spiritual parts of us that we often bring to the table in our spiritual disciplines or spiritual communities.
As we consider the depths of our soul,
This helps us connect with the most hurting or hidden parts of our souls that need God's tender care to enter in and provide compassion that is far greater than any self-compassion we can offer ourselves.
As we explore this,
We're going to be mindful to think about how we understand God,
How we understand what it means to be human,
And how we understand God's engagement with us in the messiness of our humanity.
We're going to explore how we think God views and engages with the most hurting and hidden parts of us and what it might be like to see him in the fullness of his merciful compassion as he reveals himself throughout scripture.
And for today I invite you to take a nice deep breath.
We're just going to spend a couple minutes considering the state of our soul before we start on this journey together.
You can close your eyes if you'd like or just find a place to focus your attention if you'd prefer to keep your eyes open.
Taking a few intentional deep breaths,
Letting both your inhale and your exhale slow down a little bit.
If you'd like you can place your hand on your chest,
Letting your body sink in just for a couple minutes.
And I invite you to be curious about how you envision your soul.
Let your mind and even your imagination be a bit creative here.
Noticing what kind of imagery,
What kind of symbolism comes up in your mind when you think about your soul.
And what we're doing right now,
Which is something we'll do throughout this series,
Is we're taking something that can feel pretty ambiguous or elusive and helping craft something a little more concrete in our imagery.
This is something that we will do in these sessions and that I encourage you in between sessions to even play with trying to sketch some of this out.
It doesn't have to be good artwork,
But just a way to connect with different parts of your brain and being.
As you take a couple more nice deep breaths,
I invite you to be curious about this idea of there being different parts or facets of us.
When you think about the depths of your soul,
Does this idea connect?
And if so,
How do you envision this?
What's the imagery that comes to mind when you think about the depths of your soul?
How do you imagine the most hurting or hidden parts of you and the different corners and contours of your soul and your being?
You can just simply notice what's coming to mind.
And if nothing is coming to mind,
Or if this feels frustrating or silly,
That's okay.
Be exactly where you are.
Take a nice deep breath and simply notice where you are.
If you feel completely disconnected from your soul,
That's okay.
Notice what that disconnect feels like.
And with a couple more deep breaths,
You can start to transition your awareness back to the room that you're sitting in.
You can lengthen the back of your spine,
Creating more space in your abdomen for those deep breaths.
You can roll your shoulders up,
Back and down with an inhale and an exhale.
Maybe even stretch out your arms a little bit,
Waking your body and your mind back up to the space that you're in.
Before we close our time,
I'm going to end with a prayer,
Looking forward to the next sessions in this series.
I invite you to join with me.
Lord God,
I thank you for having created us in such intricate ways that we can't fully understand the depths of our own being.
I pray that as we ask questions and seek to know what the state of our soul is and draw near to you,
That we would be entrusting the formation of our souls fully into your hands and into your care.
And for any part of us or parts of us that don't know how to trust this or feel safe with something like this,
I pray that you would abundantly pour out your mercy and create pathways toward peace.
You know the depths of our souls.
You know the most hurting and hidden parts of us.
And I ask that you would care for and minister to those depths.
That you would create communion with you in a new way that would restore and heal wounds that we cannot heal on our own.
Amen.
