Caring for soul within a formal spiritual tradition

Wayne B. Arnason shares "Sermons: Care of the Soul" with readers of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations Worship Web. In this sermon he explores associations with the word soul and draws on Thomas Moore's 1992 classic, Care of the Soul for some of his images.

Arnason writes, "The soul is a messy thing for Unitarian Universalists. We are burdened by whatever childhood definitions or images of soul we have had imposed upon us or picked up by osmosis. We are handicapped by a vacuum of contemporary reflection on the soul by any scholars, theologians, or scientists that we trust, precisely because the word itself carries so much baggage. We are intimidated by the possibility that we will be greeted by other Unitarian Universalists with the same chilly reception I received at Cedar Hill when I dared to suggest in my paper on Science and Religion that the soul might be an idea worth considering."

He then explores some of Moore's associations with the word. Arnason also considers Carl Jung's observation: "The soul is for the most part outside the body."