A Friend's Question

"Anita, are you well in your soul?"  Boy, I tell you, my friends are sure a superficial lot.  I pondered the question and decided to ask for clarification, probably to buy myself some time to think up an answer.

What does it mean to be well in our souls?  One of my favorite hymns is It is Well with My Soul, but the man who penned those lyrics had lost his son, his prosperous business and a ship had sunk that was carrying his wife and remaining two daughters.  If wellness comes from that maybe I don't want my soul to be all that healthy anyway.

Are well souls joyful ones that give you the thumbs up when you inquire? Or can a well soul be a broken and struggling one?  Maybe a well soul is one that is unafraid to enter the darkness but always longs for the light.


Is my soul well?


Today, Lloyd and I met Janet and another volunteer at the bakery right before heading up to lead a service at our church plant that we do every second Sunday at the foundation.  While sipping hot drinks two sisters from the foundation entered.  We exchanged greetings and invited them up.  Contact.


Shortly after, another of our girls came in with her parents.  More greetings and more invitations extended.  Hope.

In that moment my soul was well.


It was nonetheless a small turnout today.  We had eight volunteers including ourselves, one mother plus an additional adult and perhaps a dozen children.  We sang.  We read scripture.  We broke into small groups and came back together for the final close out and refreshments.  When asked to share what they had learned, the application of today's message seemed non existent.


Was my soul well then?  No not really.

Nonetheless, there were good moments - playing with the children, hugging and piggy-backing, talking, laughing, loving.  More hope.

The one mother that did come is the mother of 'April' who I mentioned in an earlier blog, Gringa.  April hasn't been coming to the foundation much because apparently the family has no money to pay the daily 25 cent entrance fee we request.  That may be true.  It's a struggling family, but April's mom also is recovering from a black eye that continues to cause strong head aches... She shared with us and started to cry.

We were able to negotiate a plan with April and her mom that allowed the family to save face yet created a way for April to eat at the foundation, receive help with her homework and earn a wee bit of money as well.  April and her mother stayed for church.  That was good, really good and hopeful. 

My soul gained a little momentum in that moment.


I think souls have to be pliant.  If a soul is never joyful, I doubt it has been redeemed.  But God leads us as his servants to where the wages of sin are paid and asks us if we will stick around and light a candle.   We might manage to sing in that darkness, but we will also cry if we care at all.  Life has taught us there are no guarantees except that God is good and that He cares.   So we boldly get to work and the light of our wee candle goes with us as we toil and move about.  We sing.  We cry.  We laugh.  We struggle and hope.  We lay it all down.  We do so in our souls as well as elsewhere.  And the whole process seems to be a healthy one.


So yes,  my soul is well.  Today it's struggling some because we entered into the pain of others, and I never find lighting my candle particularly easy to do - let along singing in the dark.  But yes, my soul is well.  Thanks for asking.