This past summer I had the opportunity to tend to my soul in a Benedictine monastery. I have done this several times, but time slips away, things happen in our lives that delay such care. The signs of irritability, impatience, inability to focus, headaches, even aching bodies, are warnings that all is not right with our souls. Those restless nights or forgotten appointments, are reminders of our need for soul keeping.

You have heard me mention my love of hiking. I love the freedom of being outside; the serenity of nature, my body responding to the exercise, and my mind free to drink in the beauty of God’s creation. Some hikes I am able to grab my hat, sunscreen and water bottle and simply head out the door. Other times, like my hiking in the Austrian Alps, the Grand Canyon, along the seashore of Italy, or a 14,000’ peak here in at home, demand considerable preparation. Which back pack is best? Are my travel arrangements complete? Is my rain gear packed? all demand careful preparation.

There is no question that the unexpected times in our lives go much more smoothly, when we can tap into the strength of a nourished soul, one that is equipped to face whatever life might bring.

In this Stewardship season, we are aware of the importance of managing our time, our finances, our energy and our relationships, for they are stewardship issues. But I think the most important of all is the care of our soul, for without a healthy one we are definitely handicapped. There are certain events in all of our lives that can leave us bereft of energy or direction. But if our soul is intact, we can trust God’s hand leading the way.

This happened for me one week in August. My brother in-law, (literally my former brother- in law) but he is not former, he is current, and why I call in my brother in law. In fact he is the one who walked me down the aisle when Allen and I were married. A man of few words, he had called to tell us he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. One day he was robust and enjoying life. The next he was faced with a serious sentence that few survive. Our family circled around stunned with the news. How could one family have three of five children diagnosed with a life threatening cancer? Yet, as Will shared the journey he had begun, the details spilled out of him with considerable energy and interest. During this and subsequent conversations, he has spoken of how he plans to live his life. His voice had a peace about it that surprised me. He said. "I plan to seek the treatment needed, and live the life I have left. I am not worried, for now it is in God’s hands. What better place is there to be?" His faith was a comfort to me.

Several days later, my niece, recommended a book, The Last Lecture. It is the true story of a man in his 40’s with pancreatic cancer. The author and patient, Randy Pausch, decided that his diagnosis was about living more than dying. His book is not about his treatments, his surgeries, his discomfort, or his fear. Rather, it is an uplifting story about living life.

At Carnegie Mellon University, where he was a professor of computer science, there is a tradition of a faculty member being invited to give what is called their last lecture. It is a position of honor offered to a respected professor of what she or he would like to say to the students. If this were really their last lecture, what would they like the students to know? What had they learned about living? It turned out to actually be his last lecture.

Randy Pausch, professor, lover of life, husband, father and friend, accepted this honor. Randy, in the prime of his life, in his 40’s, a new father of 3, children under 5 years of age, had received a devastating bit of news.

Life and death questions surfaced immediately. What would the treatment be? Would he be able to work? How would he tell his kids what this meant? What did he want to do with the time he had remaining? He decided he wanted to spend as much time with his wife and children as he could. He wanted to plant memories. He wanted to leave legacies. He wanted to love as fiercely as he could before life, as he knew it, was over. Despite the time it would take to prepare for the lecture, Randy decided he had something important to say.

His book is the essence of his lecture. A short and quick read, it is full of his desire and passion for living. It is not about his diagnosis, treatment, or difficult days. Rather, it is about laughing and playing with his kids; of long lingering conversations with his wife; of trips taken. It is about soul keeping.

One of the first things he did was move his family closer to his wife’s family. Next, he prepared and delivered his last lecture. He hired a writer to compose his story; he agreed to and interview with Diane Sawyer and so that we all could benefit from his story.

His message was simple. Choose life. Even in the midst of dying there is a strength in the soul that allows this choice, if we are prepared. Such strength was present in Randy Pausch and it is present in my brother-in law too. It is the gift of a nourished faith. Their stories are gifts of hope to us, for I think God wants us to be prepared when the rain begins to fall in our lives.

Randy wanted to pass on some things he had learned along the way for us to consider. He didn’t call them this, but they are soul keeping suggestions; ways to strengthen and care for your soul. Among them are:

Tell the truth all the time to everyone in your life.

Don’t tell people how to live their lives; tell them stories.

Hang onto the serenity prayer.

Life is not about living your dreams; it’s about living your life.

Be able to say, "I have not regrets; I lived my best."

In this Deuteronomy passage thru Moses, God reminds us of our choices:

Soul keeping, the care of our souls, is a foundational stewardship issue. Pledging to the church or volunteering in the community doesn’t mean much from a sick soul. If the choices we make do not build up our soul we are at risk. Choose life, says the Lord.

In her book Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership, Ruth Haley Barton, speaks about how leaders lose their souls. She says we fail when we think we are the leader, forgetting that it is actually God leading through us. We fail when we think only people who stand up in front are leaders, forgetting that there are many styles of leadership. We fail when we think we are not a leader. But we cannot lead until we notice God.

Using the story of Moses, she walks through the different stages of leadership he experienced. It was not until Moses turned and noticed the burning bush that God spoke to him; not until God had Moses’ full attention was leadership possible. We can identify with Moses because most of us do not see ourselves as leaders nor have we dreamed of becoming one. But the stewardship of our souls involves using our leadership for others.

Learning to pay attention to God is essential. It is care of the soul. If we are absorbed in barreling through life fixed on accomplishments instead of God, we can be blinded to the burning bushes in our own lives. If we seek the approval of others before God’s, we are unable to hear God calling us. If we persist in our frenetic pace, we will lose the solitude necessary to hear God speak. If we work and don’t play there is no room for our souls to recover.

I think God wants us to do more of what gives us life and turn away from those things that drain us. "Choose life" says our God. How do we live our lives? I think it is so easy to live responding first to the demands of our lives; upkeep of the house, family, bills, jobs, leaving us without time or energy for the care of our souls. But that is a dangerous choice. If we were to get a diagnosis like Will or Randy, would we be able to say "I have no regrets"?

So many things drain the health of our souls: relationships that need our attention; the refusal to forgive another; ignoring the Sabbath. We deplete our souls when we harbor anger, revenge, fear, separation or jealousy.

The stewardship of our souls is foundational to even considering our giving during this stewardship season. Consider the areas that bring health to our souls: Obedience to the commandments and teachings of Jesus, solitude for listening to God; learning to who God is through worship, study, prayer, service and giving; practicing love with the unlovable; forgiving those who wrong us; things that feed instead of drain our soul.

When our soul is healthy, we welcome the subject of stewardship as a natural thing. We want to give. We don’t cling to our possessions. We can’t help loving. We recognize what separates us from God and do something about it. If we dread this stewardship season, then we have some work to do.

Because without a healthy soul, we can too easily succumb to the myths of stewardship: