“Let Us Got Give In To Temptation”
Have you ever said to yourself, “I just don’t feel like doing [fill in the blank] right now,” even though you know it’s the right thing to do? I think if we are being honest, most of us say some version of the above to ourselves often. This experience of knowing you should do something, but are having a hard time being motivated, is an ancient one. It goes back at least as far as the ancient Greeks and was adopted into the way Christians think about the tension between what we feel, and what we know we should do. This tension comes out in the way these thinkers have talked about the soul.
Basically, this tradition has thought of the human soul in three nested parts. The nutritive part of the soul represents the lower part of being and includes nutrition, growth, and reproduction. Plants also possess this part of the soul. The second part of the soul is the sensitive part, which is related to the senses, appetites, and emotions. The sensitive soul includes the senses (smell, sight, touch, etc.) and is what motivates movement towards goals and ends. Along with the nutritive part, the sensitive part is shared with all animals. The third part of the soul is the rational part. This part is unique to humans. The rational part is not just about book learning, but all kinds of knowledge like experience or wisdom concerning divine things. Some version of the above view of the soul can also be found in almost every ancient culture’s understanding of the soul.
But here is the problem. Sometimes the sensitive part of our soul disagrees with our rational part, thus leaving us with the tension of knowing the right thing to do, but not feeling like we want to do it. I know I should not have that third brownie, but I take it anyways against my better judgment. Here is an example from St Paul in Romans 7:
“I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. … I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
And, here again from Galatians 5: “For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want.” Paul is articulating a struggle that I think we all can understand. Wanting to do good, but not being able to follow through, or against our better judgement finding ourselves doing something that we know is not good for ourselves or others.
For me, Lent is a time of service, fasting, prayer, and vigil of realigning the sensitive and rational parts of our souls. To bring together what I know is best for me and others even when I lack the motivation to do it. Spiritual disciplines are great tools for helping us develop the habits of life that mitigate these tensions in our spirits. I invite you this Lent to take on spiritual practices with the intension of healing the tensions in our souls. Perhaps pay attention to those moments when your soul is in tension, pray a short prayer, and try do the thing that you are avoiding. This is hard, I admit. But this designated time of spiritual disciple can be for all of us a season to bring our bodies and souls in alignment with themselves.