Time and the Soul

The New Year 2019 has many meanings to many people. And regardless of race, religion and culture, it is basically about Time.

The letters of the alphabet and the numbers do not define Time. They can only serve to describe Time. Even Science can only measure its length or duration but not its source and nature. The words, “seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years”, etcetera are descriptive tools only.

To us people of faith we understand it in the context of Creation and have to accept it in the larger and deeper context of the Mystery of the Creator who is Eternal, that is, Timeless.

Even the Holy Bible can only refer to Time with the words, “In the beginning …” (Gen. 1:1). What about the soul? Well, there are 4 ways by which New Testament understands the soul which we cannot present for lack of space.

One way can be found in St. Paul’s second letter to the people of Corinth where being assured of the faith in Jesus he says, “That is why we do not waver, indeed, though this outer human nature of ours may be falling into decay, at the same time our inner human nature is renewed day by day (4:16).

“Our inner human nature”, according Scripture experts, is our Soul, our real Self. It is what makes me say, “I Am” wherein I can find and experience God. This is what St. Paul means when he says, “and yet I am alive, yet it is no longer I, but Christ living in me. The soul does not age. It is, according to psychologists and formators, the transformative element in our human psyche.

During this Year 2019 I think the most important challenge we face as human beings, and a task we have to do as Christians, is to struggle to get to know my real Self, who I really am. As humans our approaches to Self-knowledge slows down the aging process. And as Christians deepening our faith in Jesus the Risen Lord renews our souls daily, even if our physical “body falls into decay,” making it easily open to transformation.

Our task throughout the Time we call Year 2019 is to struggle.