Soullessness Contradiction and
Soulful Transformation by John P. Cock, May 20051.Buber’s I-Thou
Buber’s I-Thou2.Soul; soullessness; soulfulness
Soul; soullessness; soulfulness3.I-It as soullessness: underlying contradiction of our time
I-It as soullessness: underlying contradiction of our time 4.I-Thou as soulfulness: transformative strategy of our time
I-Thou as soulfulness: transformative strategy of our time AT LUNCH WITH THOMAS BERRY recently, we were discussing the similarity and difference in our thought. We agreed that we were both engaged in addressing the contradiction of our time, soullessness, which has come as a result of the industrial revolution with its materialistic metaphors for being. Thomas said he was coming at soullessness historically and culturally and that I was coming at it theologically and spiritually, but that we both were dedicated to the transformation of the human soul for the sake of our restored planetary home – what Martin Buber calls “a living mutuality.”
We both appreciate Buber’s I and Thou language because we find it talking about this same transformation and honoring and yet transcending religious traditions. I have gone through Buber’s book and begun to interject some “soul” language into it, which only enriches the thrust of his meaning for me.
[I]n spirit . . . nature is timelessly enveloped. . . . Spirit in its human manifestation is a [soulful] response of man [sic] to his Thou . . . which appears and addresses him out of the mystery. . . . Spirit is not in the I, but between I and Thou [spirit is manifest to us in the relation]. . . . Only in [our] power to enter into [soulful] relation [with nature, which includes humanity, are we] able to live in the spirit [to live soulfully]. . . . Every particular Thou is a glimpse through to the eternal Thou. . . . [S]pirit can penetrate and transform the world of It ["soullessness," our seeing creation as an It; conversely, "soulfulness," our seeing creation as a Thou]. ~Martin Buber, I and Thou, pp. 24; 39; 75; 100In our thou response – not our it response – to meeting spirit in every particular encounter do we begin to live soulfully, do we enter into the soulful transformation of our time.
As Buber says, we are in spirit’s envelope, like fish swimming in water and creatures of earth surrounded by air. But like fish and all creatures, we mostly fail to recognize that which really embraces us. Nonetheless, spirit is always present and we are always in it.
This is the greatest possibility, that spirit can penetrate and transform the world of It, as Buber says; . . . we begin to see and relate to all other as Thou.
© John P. Cock
