The Keeper of the Stream

What is a soul?

Google defines it as “the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal; a person's moral or emotional nature or sense of identity.

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy says the soul is “thought to be connected, not with life in general, or life in all its forms, but rather, more specifically, with the life of a human being.”

In his book, Soul Keeping, John Ortberg defines the soul as… Well, he never actually seemed to define what the soul is. Rather he engages in many kinds of illustrations to describe the effects of the soul and how the soul can be affected, damaged, or healed. And while I recognize that describing the soul is not exactly an easy task (I have no idea how to do it), I don’t agree with all his viewpoints. In fact, most of the book seemed to be more of a reflection of his relationship with his mentor, Dallas Willard, and followed by a collection of anecdotes and illustrations that were difficult to follow (for me), more than a direct focus on the topic titled on the book.

Chapters 1-5 are supposed to define what the soul is, but rather he seemed to be describing the characteristics of the soul, and our response to it. (I struggled to follow him in these chapters.) Chapters 6-15 he returned to the Stream Keeper, and broke down what the soul needs. Chapters 16-17 were supposed to describe a restored soul, and the joys that can be found once we have allowed Christ to become the Life Source of our stream, and the effort we give in keeping that stream pure.

To me, the best example of what the soul is, what it needs, and how to keep it pure, can be found in the Prologue: The Keeper of the Stream, and a little in Chapter 16. It is a short story about how a stream flowed through a small village, bringing life, health and beauty. An old man kept the stream cleaned out until the town decided they no longer needed him. But as time passed, eventually the waters became contaminated, sickness came from it, and life seemed to drain from the village. Recognizing the truth worth of the Stream Keeper, the village hired him back, and eventually the waters were restored. At the end of the story, Ortberg says, “The stream is your soul, and you are the keeper.”

In this, I agree with Ortberg, and I think he would have done better to keep that one illustration as the main focal point, and break everything down from there. Chapters 1-8 were the hardest to follow. His movie illustrations are terrible examples to compare the soul to. He compared the soul’s neediness to that of a paranoid physic patient, and the soul’s refusal to be ignored to that of a woman who tries to kill her ex-lover and his family. Who wants to visualize their soul as some psychotic depth of ourselves that God created? Who wants to follow that God?

While it was hard for me to understand most of his points, I did appreciate his illustration in Chapter 9, that our heart recognizes the need for God as Father. Perhaps because it was so relatable for me. Again, I would have redirected that to the Stream Keeper aspect in the sense that, when things from outside our control devastates us, we know to go to our Father to gain healing (for our stream).

I did like his breakdown of the soul, and the rest of our ‘being,’ but he seemed to contradict himself. He states that the soul is the life center of human beings, then he contradicts this when he describes an illustration from his mentor of the soul, where the human will is the center point, and the soul is what encompasses the will, mind, and body. Later, he says the soul is both the center and the entire being. Respectfully, I disagree with all three. Referencing back to Scripture in Luke 10:27:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength/will and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

The heart is the Life Center. That's why it is so important for us to ‘guard our hearts.’ If our streams/souls become ill, then our strength/will is weakened, our minds become diluted and murky, and our entire body is suffering. But if God has our hearts, and He is the center or our hearts, then our Life Center/Heart, we will be strengthened, our minds will be clear, and our whole bodies will be healthy. This doesn’t mean we are perfectly healthy individual’s, but that we (our souls) are healthy.

Going back to Stream Keeper, in simplest context, if we are keeping our stream pure, then our lives will be pure. If we allow things to pollute our lives, and do not maintain what does fall into our streams, then we can become spiritually sick. People become depressed due to life circumstances, but also because they just give up in keeping their streams pure. They allow more debris to wear them down, and often even feed the filth themselves by watching depressing movies, or hanging out with people who encourage their behavior, or even by isolating themselves rather than seeking help. Sometimes the debris that has fallen into our streams is too heavy for us to remove on our own. We need the help of others.

I do agree, in a sense, with some of the points that Ortberg made in that we need to be intentional in walk with the Lord. We do have be careful not allow our emotions to lead us astray, and we must be mindful of what we allow into our stream. (Perhaps if Ortberg had stuck to one illustration I could have followed him better.) And yes, I was often frustrated with this book. But I cannot deny the deep reflection it drew me into. As well as confirming the journey I have already been on these past few years to purify my soul. 

(I just didn’t entirely realize I’ve been cleansing my "stream".)