THE FOOTPRINT OF THE SOUL

FOOTPRINT... 

It's a familiar word to us that has come to mean so much more than the dent we leave in the sand when we walk on the beach. It's not just about space, but about the effect we leave behind us, particularly on the environment. While this is something to consider as we are stewards entrusted with the planet that God created, I want to talk about the footprint of our soul on the world around us, the people we do life with. You know, the person lying on the pillow next to yours, or the person sitting at the desk opposite you, the child you just put dinner in front of.

I remember hearing someone talk about something dear and profound to them and thinking we are relatively small in physical space, but we each have a universe within our soul. Hopes, pain, joy and love run deep in us, and behind every face, there is a story that we don't know.

Here are a few lines from a poem that I love...

"The world stands out on either side No wider than the heart is wide; Above the world is stretched the sky, No higher than the soul is high.

The heart can push the sea and land farther away on either hand; The soul can split the sky in two, and let the face of God shine through.

But East and West will pinch the heart that cannot keep them pushed apart, And he whose soul is flat - the sky will cave in on him by and by"  

(Edna St. Vincent Millay - Renascence and other poems)

This poem is very affirming for those who are confident that they are big-hearted, but for those whose hearts are small, it's quite a challenge. And life can hurt at times; we go through times when our hearts shrink, through hurt, through troubles, through weariness.

I have good news! Jesus takes us as we come to Him with our shrivelled hearts and then heals and enlarges us.

"Happy are people who are hopeless, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Happy are people who grieve, because they will be made glad. Happy are people who are humble, because they will inherit the earth. Happy are people who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness, because they will be fed until they are full." Matthew 5:3-6 (CEB)

I want to leave you with beautiful words in the form of a prayer that St. Augustine (354-430) prayed.

"Narrow is the mansion of my soul. Enlarge it, so that you can enter. 

It lies in ruins. Repair it."

That, my friend, is a prayer that I know God will listen to. I suspect this prayer is a prayer that can be prayed many times throughout our lives as we feel our hearts shrink through the various seasons we experience.  

As we allow Him to work in us, enlarge us, give us big and generous hearts, the footprint we leave on the lives of the people in our world will be kind, generous & beautiful.

Until next time, Much love,

Lynda x