As my friend and I met up for lunch on yet another rainy dismal day she announced right at the get go that she had a soogy soul .And of course with all the continued wet weather we'd been having for days and days on end my first thought was ,"No wonder ,I'm sure all souls are soggy. I certainly know mine is feeling pretty spongy and damp ". And so it was really something we laughed off and carried on with our lively conversation between ourselves as well as with others who were gathered in comfy shelter from the elements and enjoying good coffee and tasty food. Anyone there as time passed would certainly never have guessed that anything remotely near to a soggy sould would have ever been mentioned. Laughter and friendly banter prevailed and jolly farewells were extended as we departed the diner and headed off each to the remainder of our own day . But since then my friend's words soggy soul have kept popping back in my mind .Not because she was down and all bluesey ,because she wasn't .And either was I . But amidst the going forth in life ,even in times of warm and enjoyable fellowship with family ,friends ,acquaintances and strangers , in the midst of a thrilling or interesting book ,play ,concert ,etc. , or right slap dab in the middle of a lovely relaxing kayak paddle down a scenic river we can be experiencing a soggy soul . In the dictionary soggy is defined as spongy,wet ,damp,moist ,soft ,and heavy. And why wouldn't we have soggy souls ? Look and hear what is around us . Fellow human beings losing everything thet possess to floods ,fires ,tornados and earthquakes . Our loved ones suffering and battling terrible diseases, no food in cupboards ,no heat in houses ,no way to purchase needed medications due to lack of money , jobs being suddenly terminated .,family members being controlled through addictions . Any of these things could cause a soul to drown let alone just end up soggy !
And when our souls are heavy and soggy it's very difficult to even pray . Nothing that comes out seems to decribe this sogginess. We're all a mixed bag of emotions. Disappointed in ourselves that it appears we might be lacking in trust and hope and faith and we're just giving ourselves over to the darkness and forfeiting the promise of light , throwing in the towel so to say. We just seem to be doing a whole lot of sighing (I'm the Queen of Sigh) ,groaning ,moaning ,complaining, blaming , muttering , and a big batch of other 'ing ' verbs . But even in the midst of all the inging there is hope : God hears what is really in all that inging .It gets ciphered through the divine airwaves and God gets the gist. All we need to remember to do is share all the gobbley goop with Him .Just get down and dirty somewhere with God whether it be while doing the dishes with your heart racing in anger ,on a park bench with a lonliness feeling like a ton of rock , under the covers and not wanting to come out and face another day of pain or grief ,looking in the refrigerator totally in angst over how to put together another meal for the children ,in a hospital room frazzled in fatigue from worrying and caring for a very ill loved one ,slumped in the car enveloped in fear as to how to tell a spouse the job is gone , sitting in front of a tv crying tears of sadness as people we don't even know srceam in the horrors of tragedy or we mutter in anger and confusion as to the wastefullness we see going on around us in seemingly foolish projects and moneyeating ventures that do absolutely nothing to help others or our planet that is in such dire need. Yes such things and oh so many more need us getting down and dirty and giving God our uttering mo matter how primal or lacking in speech . It's never been about flowery or big words .In fact Jesus made it very clear that high falooten language or using all the proper nouns and verbs gets one nowhere . But it is about spilling out our guts just the way a child comes to his mother or father with sadness ,pain,anger ,hurt, or confusion looking for comfort .And we are promised comfort and strength . Psalm 23 tells us God will restore our souls by the quiet waters and that He will lighten our heavy burdens if we come to Him seeking rest from the labors of our heart,body and spirit. Soggy isn't bad or something to try to escape from or cover up . It's a heavenly poke to spill it out to the The Great Comforter ,The Great Counselor ,The Great Helper . Squeeze out the heaviness and sogginess of the soul with a daily dose of getting real with God . And then will everything be perfect ,solved ,go away . No not likely but at least you will know someone else is in the pain ,grief, hurt, worry ,the helplessness with you and cares !
