Shalom To You

     If you've been alive for so long, are observant, or perform any basic google search, you will probably be aware of the word "Shalom". It's mostly used in Jewish culture, and is used in greeting or farewell. Once or twice someone has said it to me, but I never really thought much of the word.
     Recently, however I came across the word in Soul Keeping, by John Ortberg, and it gave me some interesting insights.
     First, the word itself means peace, wholeness, or happiness. But there's a bit more to it than that.
     As humans, God created us in His image, and we have different parts to us. Not like different appendages or organs, but our self's are separated in that each of us has a heart, will, mind, and soul.

"He answered, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'". - Luke 10:27

We can think of each of these 4 aspects as a ring in a circle. The very center of the circle is our soul, with 3 rings outside of it. Right outside of the soul is the ring of the will. After that is the heart, and the outermost circle is the mind. The soul is the center, and is affected by the actions created by the reasonings and provocations of the 3 outer rings.

Heart:
Our heart represents our desires, our feelings, our emotions.
In the Old Testament times (before science as we know it today and autopsies and stuff) they believed that our mind was really in our heart. That the heart is where our thoughts and beliefs came from. And the word heart in the Old Testament can be translated as "the kernel of the nut".

Will:
Our will can also be thought of us our strength. It's what makes us do the things we don't want to do. As humans we often tend to think our will is much stronger than it actually is. Ever try NOT to eat that brownie or ice cream by sheer will-power? It's pretty hard.

Mind: 
Our mind is the place where our rational thought processes take place, the center of our logical thinking. The mind is most easily over-ridden by the heart and will. We know in our minds the amount of calories in that brownie and long-term effects of too many sweets, but our heart tells us how good it tastes. Our will caves to our heart much too easily.

Soul:
Our souls are our identity, they make up the very core of who we are. The signify what is eternal, what will last even after this word fades away. The Bible has a lot to say about souls and most of what it says signifies that our souls are things worth saving, and it is our souls that God loves. Not that He doesn't love the other parts of us, but in the end our souls are WHO WE ARE. They are the sum of the choices we make.

"What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?" - Matthew 16:26

"Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name." - Psalm 103:1

In our world there's a lot of stuff that revolves around ourselves. Our culture screams to satisfy yourself. It tells us to go chase our own dreams. gratiate and appease our desires. None of these things are really wrong, nor are they harming anyone else, but they are harming our souls. We have focused so much on our selves, that we forget about our souls. A healthy soul is able to have healthy relationships. A healthy soul is at peace, and is able to be quiet and still. I don't know about you, but in our world I see a lot of broken relationships and a lot of noise.

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     When all of these aspects are in alignment, we feel good, at peace, healthy, and whole. When everything is connected and we make the right choices for the right reasons, we can feel the most connected to God. Those moments of cohesiveness can also be thought of as "Shalom."
     In the midst of our sin-filled, rebellious lives as humans, these moments of Shalom are few and far between. Paul talks in the Bible about knowing the right thing to do, and wanting to do it, but in the end his flesh is weak and he does what he does not want to do (Romans 7:15-19). This happens to me all the time. I know what is right and true and honorable, and in my soul I want to do those things, but it usually doesn't work out the way my soul wants. Ultimately through the power of Jesus we can overcome this and have everything aligned so that our souls are in a moment of Shalom. I think of these moments as little glimpses of heaven. Because in the Bible heaven is described as God dwelling with man, free of sin and everything else that hinders us. So heaven is one constant moment of Shalom: being continuously united with Jesus the Son and God the Father.
     So when someone wishes another person "Shalom" they are wishing that they not only have peace, but are seeking God's face and seeking oneness with Him. A beautiful sentiment, that I pass to you, reader!