For the most part unknown to waking consciousness, the soul lives at the center of the life and breath of each embodied being, sending its messages to the physical self in order to maintain the direction of a life where this is permitted, and where soul-access is restricted by the limitations of the personality, allowing the embodied being whatever measure of light and truth can be absorbed.

The inner being which is called the 'soul' is that aspect of spiritual identity that has traveled with us through the centuries and eons of embodied life, measuring and absorbing the lessons of each life, transmitting and collecting the combined wisdom of its passage through time for the benefit of each lifetime's experience.  In a sense, no lifetime within the physical body is truly separate from any other, for each houses within itself the accumulated experiences of what went 'before' and the essence of what shall come 'after'.

The soul, at its own level, already knows what it must learn at the embodied level, for it remains connected with the Source of truth and love and it remains connected to the Oneness of which it is a part.  And yet the layer of self which enters the physical must realize these truths and this love, for that is the reason for taking embodiment – that the higher truths shall become known to the consciousness within form, and that the consciousness within form shall experience itself as part of the Oneness.

There can be no true separation between the soul and the embodied being, however, for without this vital spiritual connection, no physical life would be possible.  The body, indeed, has its own complex way of functioning as a coherent whole.  Nevertheless, it is given life by the decision of the soul to incarnate and to maintain itself in physical form for a period of time.  It is not the body which decides this, no matter how well it may be functioning.  It is the soul which decided this, gleaning the wisdom from its inner being in union with Divine will and subject at all times to that greater Will.  The soul, on its own plane, is the director of the drama that takes place on the human plane, when allowed to be so.  When not permitted  such involvement due to the strength and force of personal need and desire, the soul waits, overlighting the embodiment throughout time.

The essence of each soul is the beauty of its Creator, expressed as an aspect of being that translates into a concentration of Divine qualities in a particular area or areas.  Thus, one soul may excel in their sensitivity to perceiving harmony in nature, in music, in artistic expression, and may seek to bring this into the world of human relationships as well.  Whereas another soul may be directed from within to explore and express the aspect of God that we know as Divine justice, understanding to whatever extent is possible, the Law of Cause and Effect, and living in accordance with this law.  This central focus on Divine justice does not mean that the soul  judges others, but rather that the soul seeks to understand the Divine order behind all things and to penetrate the outer façade of what passes as causality within the physical realm in order to arrive at a deeper understanding of causes.  Such a being may, rather than being judgmental, become one who is exceedingly compassionate toward others, understanding deeply how effects that cause pain and suffering came to be.

Whatever the Divine quality of the soul, its inner being strives with all its capacity to express that Divine quality on the physical plane.  The nature of the soul is self-expression, and therefore there is no being who, given the opportunity to exist in freedom, would not seek to express its deeper nature and what was central to its heart.  The creation of conditions on the earth that would maximize this freedom-to-be are what spiritual evolution is meant to achieve, so that the embodied self can in all ways conceivable come to express all that it experiences of itself as its own deeper nature.  This is the true meaning of freedom.  It is the freedom to be.

In the end, the flowering of the soul on earth for individuals and for a collective humanity will herald a new age of peace in the world, for the soul's presence is a guarantor of peace and the soul's expression is a guarantor of alignment with the higher purposes of light and truth.  When souls are capable of manifesting their inner life within the realm of the physical, then life will no longer be separate from the sacred, and what is the highest and best within each human expression will finally be given a vehicle for doing so and the chance to flower within the realm of time and space.

Artice Section -  Individual