Spirit
and Soul
Although
spirit and soul tend to be confused, overlapping,
and even the same in most peoples' minds,
they were clearly two different parts of the human person:
spirit tending toward mind, universals, absolutes, God;
soul tending toward psyche, experience, particulars, and "me".
Without soul and body work, spirit frankly tends to be illusory, self-righteous,
and ideological,
which we see in the large amount of unhealthy religion to this day.
"It is all in the head," as we say.
Soul seems to be the lost element of the human trinity
(corresponding to the lost sense of the Holy spirit),
and body tends to be the rejected element in the human trinity
(corresponding to the whipped and shamed body of Jesus).
As a result, we have a very anemic and poor sense of Transcendent Spirit,
or God.
We tried to do "end runs" around body and soul to feel "spiritual."
It has not worked at all.
In fact, we are finding ourselves in a major spiritual crisis in the
West.
The historic images that gave people access to God
do not seem to be working for the large majority of our people.
Richard
Rohr in Everything Belongs, Crossroad, NY, 1999, p.119