Valuable

Because I tend to be most worrisome when it comes to financial matters, my thoughts often circulate about the cost of things.  Whether it is expensive propane to heat my home, replacing kitchen appliances built by sub-standard companies (I promise not to mention names, but I am strongly tempted to do so), or maintaining four automobiles, the cost of things tends to cause me nauseous anxiety.  When dollar signs fly, I am tense.  When all is paid for and cash flow is uninterrupted, I am at peace.

Pathetic, I know.  But you worry about stupid things too.  The problem with my worries are that they tend to make a commentary on the value of all things.

I was reminded the other day about the pain of life.  In my line of work I see plenty of busted souls.  I meet people who have been abused in every way by every means - even by themselves.  It isn't just self-centered sin.  It is an inwardness which disregards the value of humanity - both next door and in the mirror.

I may worry about money, but I am learning to weep for souls.  Souls that are lost, wayward, straying from God gleefully.  Souls that are broken to the point that they are almost completely detached from their bodies.  Souls that are so hardened to all of life that they are little else besides breathing statues.  Souls that are oblivious to a higher purpose and a greater Kingdom.  Souls that are more like zombies of the horror genre than babies knit together in the womb of a glowing mother-to-be.

Nothing is more valuable than the human soul.  And when I say "soul" I mean the body, mind and spirit of a human being - not just some vacuous, inner entity.  The soul in ancient, Biblical wisdom was the complete being of man.  God created souls as the crown of creation.  He dared to become flesh in an effort to pull human souls from the sewer of the sinful cosmos.  That speaks volumes concerning the worth of my soul and your soul.

I wish I could promise that finding the value in the human soul will make life happier and less painful.  It won't.  You will, in fact, experience more pain, more anxiety, and more discouragement.  But you will hurt and worry and despair over that which is infinitely precious.

You will fathom the previously uncharted depths of prayer.  Faith will become a learned skill, not a bullet point on a doctrinal syllabus.  Love will reach its tentacles into every fiber of your own soul.  Your life will be scarier, more unpredictable, richer and fuller than ever before.

I have learned this as a friend, a son, a husband, a parent, a minister, and a fellow soul.  I wouldn't trade my scars for anything in the world.