Mar
24
2011

Our Tent and Our Soul

An article by Doug

I have a couple of tents at home.

One is fairly small: a two person lightweight model for overnight hiking which is used by my middle son Seth as he treks across hill and valley. The other one is a 6 person 3 room beauty that can house the entire family. This tent is full of memories for everyone, including the sand on the floor from frolicking on the beaches of Lake Lanier and Lake Hartwell. I have concerns about this tent’s water integrity, and what happens if it rains at night, but it is not the tent that is important to me, it is what has happened in and around the tent with my family that matters most to me.

The tent has simply provided a space for family time, identity formation, and building our sense of unity in the midst of changing weather conditions and potential for calamity. Right now if you were to ask the color I could not remember. I would have to venture into the garage to find it and see the tent to know. I don’t know the dimensions either, I just know it has three rooms and we all fit in it.

By now the bibliophiles may be realizing that I am headed towards 2 Corinthians 5 and Psalm 139. You are fearfully and wonderfully made, but does your soul really know this? Are you stressing about not having a pretty enough tent? I know I do, weight issues (member at Gold’s Gym), blemishes (Murad), “dark spots”(some Avon cream stuff), legs too short (not sure what to do with this one), hair falling out (Rogaine… not yet), etc. But wait, the tent is just a temporary place, well made by God himself, but does not define who we are. It is our soul that makes us, well, us. Regardless of the condition or issue does your soul know that its’ temporary dwelling is fearfully and wonderfully made? My tent did not define our family, but it did provide a place for the family to grow, develop and create what matters to us and God. Paul presses this issue in 2 Corinthians 5, the tent is temporary, the soul… eternal. Let’s focus on soul stuff. This may be too basic, but I need the reminder…

How do YOU intentionally focus on caring for your soul?

Doug White was born and raised in the New York City metro area, now residing in rural northeast Georgia he has spent years losing his Jersey accent. A very informal guy with lots of very formal education, Doug loves to ride his Honda VTX 1300 C when the weather is good and work on construction projects when possible. He loves the church, having spent 20 years serving in ministry and currently invests in the church serving as a university professor. He lives with his wife Christina; 3 children: Ian, Seth and Nissa; 4 dogs: Gizmo, Max, Luci and Q; 3 cats: Tigger, Lily, and Midnight; Parrot BJ; with two ponds (full of fish) and a wild bird feeder to torment the cats.