March 31, 2014
What is the soul? Author and pastor Ortberg (When the Game Is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box) is the student to teacher Dallas Willard, the late philosophy professor, writer, and intellectual, regarding the answer to this age-old question. "You're a soul made by God, made for God, and made to need God," Willard tells him, "which means you were not made to be self-sufficient." Ortberg shares wisdom about the soul he learned from Willard, who died last year, throughout the book. He absorbs Willard's calm wisdom and explores the soul by the various things it needs: a keeper, a center, a future, life with God, rest, freedom, blessing, satisfaction, and gratitude. Ending with a section called "The Soul Restored," he explores the darkest part of the soul by explaining that "the soul is the place of greatest pain." As he reflects upon the life and passing of his friend and teacher, he ends with a cathartic realization of what a redeemed soul can be: "To share without thinking. To see without judging. To love God." This reflective study offers readers ways to nurture their soulsâbecause that's ultimately the only thing that matters. Agency: Yates & Yates.