John 1 opens with, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Through him were all things made that were made, and the Word was the source of life, and this source brought light to all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out.”
As I sat with my open Bible, I hope filled those few words. No matter what we humans do, and we do some terrible things, we will never be able to snuff out the light that shines in the darkness. That’s when I noticed a scribbled note I had written along the margin ….a note from years ago when I was in Seminary. “The Greek word ‘logos’ can be translated as ‘World Soul.’ Vast. Mysterious. Comprehensive.
There it is, the Word I need to hear, The Light shining through my emotional and spiritual darkness, my fears about where our world is heading. In all and of all. World Soul. I turned back to my Bible and reread those familiar lines while substituting those two words that change everything; World Soul for Word.
I often wonder what nuances of meaning we have lost over the years. Times change. Word meanings alter. New technologies and information transform our understanding. Lifestyles and cultures are vastly different. We read Scripture through 21st-century eyes, not through the eyes of days long past. There is no way we can begin to comprehend what the Scriptures meant to folks over 2,000 years ago. Now, with the advent of the scientific age, we have become more literal, less able to think metaphorically, allegorically.
Reflecting on what all might be encompassed in the concept of World Soul, I felt hope spreading throughout my body. I reread John 1 through a blur of tears, “In the beginning was World Soul, and World Soul was with God and World Soul was God. Through World Soul were all things made that were made. World Soul was the source of life and World Soul brought light to all mankind. World Soul shines in the darkness and the darkness has never put World soul out.”
Oh, how I need to believe there is something as profound as World Soul. With so much partisanship, , and rancor tearing our precious world apart, we need to find that something that draws us together. One of the reasons I appreciate The Chronicles of Narnia and many other fantasy books is the way authors give trees and plants and animals souls, life-influencing souls…something many of us sense in our pets.
World Soul. We are World Soul, not part of World Soul. Perhaps that is the underlying message of the concept of Trinity. No separation. No divisions. Everything is a part of everything. One and the same. No better or worse. No privileged races. No national boundaries. World Soul as the vast Cosmos. World Soul as Creation. World Soul as Life. World Soul; Light in the darkness, Light the darkness can never put out. Amen and amen.
Joyce Shutt is the author of Steps to Hope and is a veteran 12 stepper
Joyce, These are great sentiments. I am just a flawed individual, and have no claim to seminary or the like. I have never been able to reconcile all the incongruities within the Bible, and have had to accept, through faith, some of the explanations of those wiser than I. I feel strongly that that passage is saying that Jesus and God were one from the beginning and always will be. We look to him for understanding through what we use for understanding and thought, as words, or “The Word”. Since there is so much divisiveness in our world, and all… Read more »
What is tearing us apart? If “logos” means eternal and unchanging truth then that eternal and unchanging truth should bring us together when we find it. How do we find the truth today when there are so many different world views. What view will ultimately dominate American culture? The unity in American culture certainly is not based on a religious system. Perhaps secularism is what brings unity to our culture or perhaps statism? What will bring us together? Well, if truth is unchanging then it must be objective and absolute. If it is then it is only truth that will… Read more »