God promises: “Even a woman may forget her nursing child, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.” (Isaiah 49: 15,16) Among those who first heard these words, who could have anticipated the Greatest Cost, Christ’s engraved/cross-scarred hands, seven hundred years later?

Friends, pastor/poet Holy George Herbert (1593 -1633) shone like a lodestar for my college English Lit. professor, Dr. Ed Ericson. Ericson told us: “When Herbert crossed from his home to pray in the church at regularly scheduled hours, men working in the fields stopped working, knelt in prayer, joining their parson in spirit. He became known throughout England as Holy Mr. Herbert.”

That 364-year-old story planted a lively seed in my liberated soul.

Paul wrote: “You belong to him who has been raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God.” (Romans 7:4) “Valley of Vision” heralds: “Resurrected Jesus strides forth as Victor, Conqueror of death, hell and all opposing might, trampling the powers of darkness, the devil’s scepter shivered, his wrongful throne leveled.”

Really? Yes.

Despite having only a mustard-seed faith, for me, college meant new worlds opening, including Herbert’s “soul-full” poetry.

For “soul,” some pursue “psychology” – literally, “soul” (“psyche”) “study” (“logy”). But, much “psychology” grasps neither our souls nor God. Understand Solzhenitsyn: “The meaning of earthly existence lies not in material prospering but in soul development.”

Here, to develop “soul,” we’ll be grounded by Scripture: a Hebrew word, ‘qashar’ and Isaiah. Eventually, we’ll return to Herbert.

The Bible is refreshingly soul-full. Consider, Benjamin’s father, Jacob. Jacob’s “‘soul’ is ‘bound up’ ‘in’” (‘with’/’attached to’/‘dependent upon’/‘joined to’/‘trussed to’) Benjamin’s “‘soul.’” And: “Jonathan’s ‘soul’ was “knit” to the ‘soul’ of David. Jonathan loved him as his own ‘soul.’” (Genesis 44:30, 1 Samuel 18:1)

Note the connection of “qashar,” “bound up”/“knit,” with “soul.” Healthy/holy souls deepen relationships.

Likewise, when a co-laborer first held his adopted baby, my friend felt his heart enlarge with new rivers of love. Tender filigrees of love in the soul may become strong cords binding soul and soul.

Sadly, forces, like death, attempt to rupture those bonds. “We said a heartbreaking goodbye to my Uncle Nat Belz, a great and kind friend. We already miss his brilliant sense of humor and his unwavering faith in God.” (Stephen Lutz, 4/1/23)

Accordingly, the Great Soul asks: “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no ‘compassion’ on the son of her womb?” (Isaiah 49:15) “Compassion” is from “racham,” “womb,” often a place of bonded love.

Could a mother “forget” her nursing child? Yes, the Fall made us self-absorbed, oblivious “fools.”

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