“You don’t have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body.” ~
I love that quote. It is so eloquent. The resource I consulted said that the above quote was by C.S. Lewis. A few readers have informed me that that is not the case. So I removed his name from the quote.
We can get accustomed in life to looking at it the other way around. It is easy to think of yourself, your essence, as your physical being that also happens to have a soul. It is as though our soul is a last-minute add-on accessory or option. But our soul is not like rust protection added on at the dealership! Oh, no not at all. Instead, we are souls that subsequently had bodies that formed around those souls, day by day, week by week, month by month.
Our souls existed before our bodies were fully formed in the womb. Boom, at conception our soul was there. The rest is mere packaging. Useful packaging, but packaging. Our souls have a desire to reunite with the Lord of Life. That is why I love the beautiful simplicity of that quote. My mind, you see can suffer from tunnel vision. I can be so limited by what I see, touch, experience, and know. I am not saying my faith in God suffers from tunnel vision. No, that isn’t what I am saying. I am saying that the way I see myself suffers from a limitation. I cannot completely see myself the way God sees me.
How does God sees me? He sees my soul FIRST. If we could see each other’s souls first, and our own souls first — before we notice all the other things—body, mind, words, etc.—then we would have everything in HIS perspective. That is my prayer this day. I pray that I keep in mind that we are souls first. That reminds me of the song You Are Near. I have put the first 2 verses here.
You Are Near
1.
Yahweh, I know you are near,
standing always at my side.
You guard me from the foe,
and you lead me in ways everlasting.
Lord, you have searched my heart,
and you know when I sit and when I stand.
Your hand is upon me protecting me from death,
keeping me from harm.
2.
Where can I run from Your love?
If I climb to the heavens You are there;
If I fly to the sunrise or sail beyond the sea,
still I’d find You there.
With my passion for the sea, sunsets, and sunrises, of course I love that second verse so much. “Where can I run from Your love? If I climb to the heavens You are there; If I fly to the sunrise or sail beyond the sea, still I’d find You there.” Today it has extra-special meaning. Thursday I flew east to join my clan for a wedding on Saturday. A few days after that I fly back west to my family. So flying to the sunrise or sailing beyond the sea is where my heart is at this weekend.
As we paddle our boats into the sunrise and sunset of the days of our lives, may the incredible beauty of god’s world touch our hearts. May His vision for our lives become our vision. May we begin to see ourselves and each other through His eyes. May God bless your day today.
Moving toward the sunset or the sunrise…..
Lovely words and song … Thank you for sharing.
you are welcome, Deanna. May your week be filled with comfort.
I’ve always loved that quote from C.S. Lewis too. And I loved your post today especially these words: “Our souls existed before our bodies were fully formed in the womb. Boom, at conception our soul was there. The rest is mere packaging. Useful packaging, but packaging. Our souls have a desire to reunite with the Lord of Life.” My sentiments exactly!
Be blessed, Kate.
Thanks so much. Our earthly lives get so tied up at times worrying about the earthly packaging. We can easily forget that what is real and true and eternally important: our souls. Hope your week is going well. you be blessed too, my dear.
Interesting thought and words…enjoyed
thanks~ hope your day is going well.
Thanks so much for this.
Don’t always agree with CSL, but this time, I do.
The quote really hit home with me. I don’t think I had ever seen it before.
I know what you mean. Been thinking on it often, and quoting it to others. It is amazing.
It would be wonderful and useful to have God’s vision–sometimes I get a glimpse of how He sees things, but those moments aren’t daily. Praying for more holy eyes. God bless you abundantly–love, sis Caddo
God bless you totally. I try to see things though His eyes- or at least to pray that He helps me to see beyond my own limitations and biases. It is a constant battle :-). <3 late
My thoughts…..you don’t have a God, you are a God. Just as the collection of land and seas makes up the earth…..so to the collection of souls makes up God. Keep on going.
I look at it this way: the collection of souls makes up His kingdom that He created. I cannot think of myself as a God, because I cannot describe myself as a perfect being. But it does take all of us, linked together in love, to make the world better.
What a wonderful C.S. Lewis quote. I won’t forget that one! It’s so important to consider what God sees and to remember that it’s HIS view of us that counts. Lovely, as always, Kate!
His vision is so very perfect; our vision flawed and limited. It is His heart we yearn for. thanks Debra~ <3
Submitted on 2013/06/23 at 12:27 pm
While I also like this quote, it is not actually attributable to Mr. Lewis. Below are a couple of more likely sources:
“Never tell a child,” said George Macdonald, ‘you have a soul. Teach him, you are a soul; you have a body.’
- The British Friend, 1892, (a British Quaker periodical around the end of the 19th century)
“You don’t have a soul, Doctor. You are a soul. You have a body, temporarily.”
- A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller, a 1959 science fiction novel
A discussion on the quote, and it’s various sources (and their contexts), can be found here:
http://mereorthodoxy.com/you-dont-have-a-soul-cs-lewis-never-said-it/
———( i responded to the above that I had gotten a couple of sources confused; the reader then responded with the below)
I doubt you actually got it confused, it is more likely that that is what you read as the source, as the quote is often attributed to Lewis. It’s an unfortunate side effect of the Internet – inaccurate aspects of popular ideas/quotes/etc spread as quickly as the base idea. But, the spread of the ideas and information – and optimism – is still a very good thing, and allows for the truth to ultimately shine thru.
(A side note: my email address is showing with the comment above, instead of just my username – did I not click something to prevent that? Can it be removed?)
Mr. Anderson—you had replied to one of my posts, which i approved and replied to. In that reply I responded that I had obviously gotten my sources confused. Although I have read nearly all of Lewis’ works, I obviously made a mistake.
You responded that you doubted that I had gotten my sources confused. I am not sure whether you are assuming that I have never read C.S. Lewis, or you assume the internet is my only source of information, or just what. None of those options applies to me.
Regardless, you and I both agree that passing along hopeful words (no matter who the source is) can be a good thing. Sincerely, Kate
Please forgive my choice of words – reading it now, I see how my 2nd comment can sound a bit curt – but it was not meant as such. I only meant that C.S. Lewis seems to be cited quite often as the source of the quote, despite its inaccuracy. Subsequently, I only wanted to provide some information that I had only recently learned myself (a more accurate source).
As for souls, yours to the world is a blessing. Thanks for sharing your optimism!
Hey of course I forgive your choice of words. I was actually fascinated by your post about CS Lewis being incorrectly cited. It gave me pause and led to further reflection. http://believeanyway.wordpress.com/2013/06/25/journalism-and-ethics-in-a-blogging-world/ . I hope that you take a look. It makes me how often we do trust sources that we should actually verify. I think that many of us grew to like CS Lewis’ writing and preferred to think he said it! Anyway, stop in any time. (I’ll be back to your site soon!)–
Oh, one other thing I forgot to mention (and probably should have in my first post) – I am not affiliated with the website I referenced, it just seemed to have a mildly interesting discussion, with a couple of references, on the “You are a soul.” quote.
Cheers!
Ok, that prior post was supposed to be at the end, not here. I’ve worked with computers for thirty + years, and they still befuddle me daily…
They befuddle me, too!! I keep wondering what it is that I’m doing that draws tons of spam! 99% of it gets blocked, but still…
Regardless- you are right, it was interesting! For some reason, I thought you were part of that website group. they look to be a really interesting bunch!cheers to you, too!
Even though the quote does not belong to Lewis’, it does contain some truth. For one thing, it kind of counters gnosticism which has a high view of the ‘soul’ and a low view of the body, and biblical Christianity is not ‘anti body’ in the same way the gnostics were. I’m not an expert in these things, but I always thought that the ‘soul’ was the whole person comprised of both body and ‘spirit’? I’d be happy if any one here can enlighten me?
I am not an expert either. But I think of the the soul as the essence that permeates our entire being. And I removed the mention of CS Lewis from the quote.
I’ve had the soul explained to me satisfactorily (for me, anyway) and I’ve written about it at my site on this post:
http://katharinetrauger.wordpress.com/2011/11/08/psyching-up-for-the-great-psyche-out/
and in several other places. Just search “soul” in my search window and easily find a lot.
Kate, I know you’re okay with me jumping in here, considering the request?
Definitely and I will check it out
I forgot to add: it’s a 3-part essay…
Even better!
Ha!