Soul in the fabric of our lives

The Bible stories in this week’s Lesson, titled “Soul,” give us insight into the multifaceted aspects of Soul expressed in all creation for all time. We hear God’s comforting promise of Soul’s expression in Leviticus, “I will walk among you, and will be your God” (26:12 , Responsive Reading). There’s the promise we have from David, most likely the author of Psalm 145, “Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations” (verse 13 , citation 3).

David also sings a song praising God’s sovereignty. He pleads as an individual for God to “deliver me from the hand of strange children [foreigners],” but the song is also for the collective good. The psalm continues, “that our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, ... that our garners [barns] may be full” (Psalms 144:9, 11–15 , cit. 8). We find Soul’s expression in the practical details of our lives as we are commissioned to glorify God.

Nearly 1,000 years later, Philip, one of seven evangelists anointed by the original twelve disciples, healed many individuals—those who had unclean spirits, were paralyzed, or lame: “And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did” (Acts 8:6 , cit. 15). This story shows that the expression of Soul cannot be limited to an individual. When one person reflects Soul, many feel the presence of God.

In the same period that Philip was healing the multitudes in Samaria, Peter preached in Lydda. Close by, a well-known disciple named Tabitha (her Aramaic name), who was also a seamstress and seller of coats and garments, became sick and died. Peter went to her. He “kneeled down, and prayed; and turning him to the body said, Tabitha, arise. And … she sat up. And he … presented her alive” (Acts 9:36–41 , cit. 19). Clearly, Soul is immortal, not limited to a mortal body: “Life is never for a moment extinct” (Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 309 , cit. 24).

While Philip and Peter were preaching and healing, a man named Saul was threatening and persecuting “disciples of the Lord.” On his way to speak to a high priest (on a road to Damascus), he saw a light from heaven. Falling to the ground, Saul heard a voice, “I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.” Blinded, Saul was led to the city. After three days, Ananias, a disciple at Damascus, was told in a vision to heal Saul: “And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.” Saul began to preach in the synagogues and eventually his name was changed to Paul (see Acts 9:1–18 , cit. 10). 

This story is also found in Acts 22:3–16 and Acts 26:4–23 where it is not narrated, but written in Paul’s voice. It’s because of these accounts that many scholars agree that Paul always considered himself a Jew, and believed that Jesus was savior to all peoples.

“Soul is the substance, Life, and intelligence of man, which is individualized, but not in matter,” we read in Science and Health (p. 477 ). Soul is expressed in the fabric of how we live and have lived our lives—yesterday, today, and tomorrow—at all times and in all places.