The demands of the soul

Who has seen the soul? Or known its demands?

I love this quote from Laurence Boldt: The soul too has its demands. It has a way of letting us know when we neglect or abandon its imperatives--authenticity and responsibility, joy and compassion.

Boldt is speaking of the soul in regard to career choices. But the quote affects other aspects of our life as well, especially our concept of spirituality.

It is my soul that pines and yearns, that feels empty or filled. It is from my soul that I put forth authentic deeds and works of compassion. It is in my soul where I find what Julian of Norwich referred to as the hazelnut:

• He [the Lord] shewed me a little thing, the quantity of an hazel-nut, in the palm of my hand; and it was as round as a ball. I looked thereupon with [the] eye of my understanding, and thought: What may this be? And it was answered generally thus: It is all that is made. I marvelled how it might last, for methought it might suddenly have fallen to naught for little. And I was answered in my understanding: It lasteth, and ever shall for that God loveth it. And so All-thing hath the Being by the love of God.

If I would keep these things in mind, I need heed the voice of my soul. It is not easily satisfied. It will not keep silence, but will haunt me until I learn to listen.

For it is my soul that gives meaning to my life.