Many of us have favorite scripture passages that reveal truths beyond words. They use vivid imagery instead. This Sunday’s letter from Paul to the Hebrews (Heb 4:12-13) describes graphically how the razor-sharp word of God works in us: like a two-edged sword.
“[It penetrates] between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.”
God’s word performs exploratory surgery within us—for our own exploration. It exposes to us our true self and can help us discover God just where God meets us—in that immeasurable space between soul and spirit called His Kingdom.
In that light, maybe we can also imagine the linkage between soul and spirit as Wisdom’s global positioning system. The concept of being one with God seems impossible without the guidance of that Holy Spirit. Its moral code was programmed into the authors who gave us the sacred scriptures. That same Spirit connecting Father and Son invites all of humanity to join this Trinity in God’s Kingdom.
But as Jesus tells the rich man in Sunday’s gospel reading—a guy stumbling his way around this world to find that kingdom—it’s apparent his personal global positioning system wasn’t connected.
“It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God,” says Jesus. (Mk 10:17-30 or 10:17-27)
We must use that same two-edged sword Paul drew to explore the connection between soul and spirit. It requires us to sever the bonds tying us down to the things of this world. It’s a daunting procedure, as even Christ’s disciples wondered, “Then who can be saved?”
We need God’s help to lift and wield that surgical instrument He designed to both diagnose and to save us.
“For human beings it is impossible,” Jesus tells us, “but not for God. All things are possible for God.”
That surgery requires the courage to jump into the space between soul and spirit once it’s exposed. Such fortitude is born of the faith that God won’t let us fall to our death during the procedure and will bring us to Himself instead.
Permission to make another analogy?
Imagine you’re a trapeze artist looking nervously at your partner swinging on the trapeze at the other end of the 30-foot-deep lion pit separating the two of you. You know the two of you must synchronize so that once you’ve jumped from the security of your perch, you’ve developed the necessary speed and momentum for your partner to catch you in mid-air and bring you safely to the other side of certain death.
Whatever analogy you choose, it’s not the distance between soul and spirit that matters. It’s ensuring we connect with our partner as we explore the space between them.
–Tom Andel