We prayed for #Manchester at church tonight.

Naomi reminded us of the passage from Psalm 23 about not fearing, even in the shadow, and we prayed that we as the Church would not fear.

Then as we lifted our voices in almost defiant worship these words came back to mind: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” These were the words of Jesus in Matthew 10:28. Or as The Message version translates, “Don’t be bluffed into silence by the threats of bullies. There’s nothing they can do to your soul, your core being.”
We know that the word for “soul” in the original Greek hadto do with the psyche of a person, their personality, character, their deepest identity, their “core being.” The soul is the seat of the affections, the emotions, and the will. In today’s Western culture, we tend to put much more emphasis,  and even value, on the body, which is temporary, as opposed to the soul which is eternal.

I’m sure I am not the first to have had this revelation, this light bulb moment, and I definitely I won’t be the last. But in the face of violent, merciless, evil attacks, Jesus would again say to us, “Do not fear. They may take your physical life but they can’t have your soul.”

When we look around our world right now, we can see people who have feared, and as a result, their souls have been taken. Hate, anger, bitterness, suspicion and prejudice spill out of their mouths and actions.

So if our soul is the seat of our affections and emotions and will,  the deepest part of who we are, our most core being, then how do we protect it and make certain it is not harmed or taken captive?

Prayer.

Maybe you’re thinking, “Yes, it’s Crystal, of course she would say prayer!” I’m not the only one who thought this. The beloved and wise Mother Teresa once said, “The fruit of prayer is faith. The fruit of faith is love. The fruit of love is service. The fruit of service is peace.”

Prayer changes things, yes. But it does more than that.
It changes us. It lifts our perspective, challenges our thinking and feeling, softens our hearts as they begin to break with what breaks His heart. As Mother Teresa put it, “Prayer enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing God’s gift of Himself.” And she also went on to say, “May God break my heart so completely that the whole world falls in.”

We can not truly encounter the person of God in prayer and remain vindictive deep within. Or prejudiced. Or bitter.

In the place of prayer, we are reminded of Who it is to Whom we pray. We are reminded of His greateness.

And we are reminded that death has been defeated. That Jesus has had the final word and that there is far more to this life than we can see, hear, touch, taste, and smell. That we are in a war that has already been won. And we are part of a story that hasn’t ended yet.

We are reminded of who we are at our very core – sons & daughters of God.

We are reminded of Eternal Hope.

And because of that, we can afford to risk, to open our hearts to forgiveness and love and hope, to pray with faith and expectancy.

Maybe this can seem trite and over-simplified when I am not the one walking through the valley of the shadow. Yet when we see how Mother Teresa lived out her life according to the statements she made above, maybe it’s not over-simplified. And even more, when we see how Jesus lived and spoke, in constant communion with His Father and Holy Spirit, yes, maybe it’s not over-simplified after all.

They can kill our bodies but can not kill our soul. Unless we let them.

When we give into the fear, followed by the anger, hatred, bitterness, prejudices and suspicions, we are giving away our souls. And our spiritual enemy, who is  our real enemy, wins.

But if we “lift our eyes to the hills from where our help comes” in that place of prayer, remembering that He is with us even in the shadow, we keep our souls intact.  And we triumph.

‘In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.’ – Jesus