Anti-Dualism 2: Variegated Yarn

Ok, here's another analogy to deepen the discussion a bit: yarn made of different colors. It can go from blue to purple to fuchsia to lime green. While every color is distinct, each color is spun seamlessly into the next and it's hard to tell exactly where one color stops and one starts.

It's definitely true that we have a body and that we have a soul. But imagine yourself as a long, long piece of yarn with "body" color on one end and "soul" color on the other. In between is an entire spectrum of other colors, such as "mind," "intellect." "emotion," "spirit." These are all knit together with body and soul into one whole person. And each of them has its own sub-stratum of hues and tones.

Why do I get a rash if I stay anxious for a long time? What part of my being contains courage? Why can music draw me closer to God and make me dance? Are words formed in my brain, my mind, my heart, my soul, or my tongue? Can I exhibit faith without my body? Isn't it true, at least here on earth, that all of these constituent parts are so tightly knit together that if you access one of them, somehow, to some degree, you access all of them?

And that's just one person. Think about marriage. Every part of you has the potential to connect and grow intimately with every part of another human being - to be a distinct individual but a true counterpart through these connections. Truly, here, we are more than the sum of our parts. (Meditate on the beauty of this and the injunction not to marry an unbeliever - the union of someone whose complete being has been transformed by the radiance of the Holy Spirit to someone whose complete being is a slave to sin!) Think about community in these ways too. A part of your mind or body or spirit that is lacking can be at once made up for and strengthened through relationships. That is a miracle.

So why, when we think of ourselves in relation to Christ, do we think so rigidly in terms of body and soul? This goes deep. I think I want to write a few ideas about abiding in him and also the resurrection in regards to this.