Whole in the Soul
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NOtes
NOtes
The soul is not going to take care of itself, and you can’t afford to ignore it
*** people can’t see the source of so many unhappy realities
the soul is where longing / yearning happen— (, ps 63, ps 119:20 & 81)
this is where personal connection / love / effection that runs deep happens—song 1:7 re: lovers, ____ re: friendship of J and David, re: love for God
the things that make me me, often have so much to do with other elements—I am a soul with an identoty (), but I live with lack and dysfunction that I end up making up for if not healthy, and it drives my actions with impulses (cope, grope, mope, hope)— maybe this is where comes in? Or others- like law-security, presence-companionship, ???
Consider as things that chip away at my soul—the essential me (Cf “personality disorders”) guilt over personal failures, loss of physical health, [impact] of hard times, insecurity of exposure (maybe the pit-redemption is actually related to relational companionship—consider teh power of a redeemer—you are not abandoned!],
redeem from pit—death / uselessness, worthless
crown…—beautified (worthwhile, desirable, grandeur) (some kind of greatness about me) (but it’s with love and mercy—there is no substitute for being loved to feel lovable)
fulfillment (life not lacking) (youth renewed—refreshed—soaring preserves my strength rather than spilling it out in pursuit—and here, there is something in this that means that even in exertion I am refreshed because it’s not expenditure but fulfillment) (Cf funnel hacker guy—I don’t have an advertising budget—I spend 1 and get 2, so I don’t spend, I multiply, whatever I spend)
so the subtractions are:
guilt / bad person / shame
loss of physical health / failure of physical capacity
episodes of worthlessness / bleakness (just bad times, deadening)
rejection / loneliness (I stand out— no one likes me)
the drain of unfulfilling life
*** The thing is that these prevent me from living at my fullest—and the soul has 4 main responses to these conditions: grope, mope, cope, or hope—until I am “fulfilled”
I live out of longing either for these things or as is real—the Lord Who gives these things—I will find what
Hope as an anchor--
*** God is actively working to bring me to increasing fulfillment
*** Hope is the greates mechanism to do that, in that it 1- fuels my healthy living, focuses my pursuits, and sustains the gaps where they still exist (like bondo)
hope deals with groping by focusing my pursuit
hope deals with moping by filling the gaps with the (joy) of promises
hope deals coping by satisfying my soul in the short term
personality- things that are part of our mope, cope, or grope become so fixed and familiar that they actually seem to us part of our essential personality—we don’t even recognize how much they are not extensions of true self but attachments to true self (actual you, idealized you, and [affectied] you—what happens is that because you and your world have conspired to creat pits and gaps in the affected you, you aim at an idealized version of you (one that either overtly or implicitly you have chosen) and aim at that—two things happen—1- you don’t get it right and that adds to your frustration bucket, and 2- some parts of it were unrealistic to begin with, so the things you have to do to make the unrealistic come true add to your troubles (wanting to be important so you need a fancy car so you work two jobs to have it and miss out on family life—all along it was unrealistic to be important that way since that’s not eveb real)
the Psalmist in ps 103 has 3? tings going for hom
1- he knows what to count (Cf what will it profit a man...”)
Take an active role in the condition of your soul
Be specific in the benefits that deal with your detriments
Your soul is the seat of the hidden drivers of your life (back seat drivers)
an unfinished soul is looking for substance
a rejected soul is looking for acceptance
a guilty soul is looking for relief?
a lonely soul is looking for companionship?
an insecure soul is looking for assurance
cope mope grope hope
cf gain world and lose soul—
Cf deferred maintenance-
When a repair is delayed, it is still subject to the daily use and abuse of building occupants. In fact, it’s not uncommon for a “repair” to turn into a “replacement” because, in the process of being deferred, it becomes completely broken.(https://www.facilitiesnet.com/maintenanceoperations/tip/The-Real-Cost-of-Deferred-Maintenance--38366)
According to research collated by CHT Healthcare, Buildings.com reports that “On average, if you defer maintenance, you can expect future expenses to be equal to or greater than the cost of the part squared or 15 times the total repair cost.” That can mean serious money over time in a state-of-the-art facility.
Moreover, “Every $1 deferred in maintenance costs $4 of capital renewal needs in the future” and “Less preventive maintenance on systems shortens their life cycle by as much as one-third.” (https://blog.plangrid.com/2019/06/the-high-cost-of-deferred-maintenance-and-how-to-avoid-it/)
CF Geaslin’s INverse-Square Rule of deferred maintenance—every juncture of worsening condition will increase the cost by square (so within just a very short time, you hit what Geaslin call’s teh 15x factor)
** Graphic / chart?
UCal has 3 categories of maintenance needs— currently critical (imminent breakdown), potentially critical (will be currently critical within a year), and necessary not critical (require prompt attention to avoid predictable deterioration)
Belle Grove in Louisiana?? (Largest ever—by the time it’s sold to someone who might redo it, it’s too far gone to repair—expenses of recuperation or more than it’s even worth?)
exercise, training—this isn’t about information per se, but getting information persistently in the workings of the soul such that it conditions teh soul accordingly
Cf a pump that runs dry?
“FORGET”—live without awareness- be without, lack effect of it (like running an engine dry of oil or out of gas
“Benefits”- it’s the impact of living with this awareness—it’s not that these things are a superior list of good things—superior to a more carnal list; rather, it’s the condition of teh soul when contemplating these things—these condition the soul to own its wholeness; the question might follow, “if I have these realities, then why would I need to remember them?” Two things— 1- it’s about a comparison-lack that results from focusing on the wrong things; and 2- it’s about a source-divorce, where you aren’t constantly living in a warm connection with the giver of the gifts because you fall into the trap of revelling in the gifts themselves (“don’t rejoice that teh demons… names are written...”)
CF dt 8:14 & 32:15
adequacy, competency, desirability (redeem), safety/security (satisfies)
guilt/condemnation, brokenness, desirability, beauty?, safety/provision/not at risk?
Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament 1395 נָפַשׁ
Especially in Ecclesiastes, the soul “craves, lacks,” or is “filled with good things” (Eccl 2:24; 4:8; 6:2, 3, 7, 9, and 7:28).
looking at the things that the soul is satisfied with i nthe OT to see what it is we actually are looking for
soul issues--
the car with deferred maintenance in a hailstorm—corruption inside and outside, from within and without
motivators vs behaviors
(primary enneagram motivators?)
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
3 who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
ps
1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
1 As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
81 My soul longs for your salvation;
I hope in your word.
1 As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
1 As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation
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