I was recently listening to Nancy Ortberg speak. She is a teaching pastor at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church and wife of senior pastor John Ortberg. The sermon series has been “Soul-ology”–all about the health of the soul.
They have been discussing how the soul is the sum of your being. You have a body and a mind (which the ancients, and now us moderns, see as a combination of brain and emotion) and a will. But your soul is owned by God and is all of that plus.
Nancy talked about the problem many of us have in finding rest. So many are “Type A” personalities. We worry, we plan, we crave, we act. But we can’t rest.
Her talk started me thinking. Sometimes rest comes from non-action. One benefit of meditation is to quiet the mind. There are people who confuse this with a direct spiritual benefit, but that is something more. Meditation to rest the soul is simply following a technique of sitting comfortably, focusing on breathing, clearing the mind without effort.
Type A personalities have much difficulty with this. It’s hard for them to sit still. It’s even harder for them to quiet the mind. Aside from helping the soul find rest, studies have revealed that this practice helps reduce stress, bring down blood pressure, prevent onset of Type II diabetes.
Another type of rest actually involves action. Nancy grew up hunting and fishing. She related a vacation they took to Montana to go fly fishing. That is an active vacation. The technique of fly fishing, though physically active, requires utmost concentration. Concentration of this type actually quiets the mind and allows the soul to rest.
I achieve the same state of consciousness through refereeing soccer. The more intense and higher level the game, the higher my concentration. The more the rest of my soul relaxes.
Others have hobbies of various types. Or other recreation. What do you do for your soul?
Faith Venture 
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