Heart Stories Part 3
August 13, 2025
Heart Stories Part 3
The Soul Child is usually buried beneath years of adaptation and striving, but it is our essence, the core of our soul. To return to this essence is not regression, but redemption—a sacred reunion with the part of us that remembers joy, innocence, and divine belonging. To return to this inner child is to return to the source of our aliveness, the place where our spirit first knew how to be.
I remember the time as a five-year-old, awakening to snowflakes falling outside my window. My parents rushed in my bedroom to point out the miracle that I had never seen before. Looking from my window I saw children sculpting a snowman, and soon I was outside playing along with them. Adults were bringing snow to the kids in cardboard boxes and joining in the fun. Everyone was in this miracle together, even the dogs.
By midday, the icicles dripped and fell from the roofs. You could hear the sound of melted snow running down the gutter spouts. The once white sidewalks were now wet concrete. Some snow remained but only in the patches of shade, and that’s where we now played. I was still fascinated by the snow and how it wrapped in wonder, all of us who lived in the apartment house.
But as the patches slowly melted, I knew the miracle was over. People lined up at Malone’s Drug Store across the street to develop their Kodak snapshots as fast as possible. I thought to myself, the snow is not all gone, why are people already getting pictures? Why are they not playing in the little bit of snow that is still here? “Hey y’all,” I wanted to say, “get out of the long line and come play with us!” But the benign spell cast earlier that morning— the spell that made a huge family out of all the families, was gone. Now another spell had been cast— the spell that puts us in the future and leaves the now; the spell that disappears presence.
That child who saw snow for the first time is still with me— he is eager to get out and play, and disturbed when people act as if the wonder of life is over with. I hear him on many days when embedded in duty, the future, and in the incessant problems of life. I hear him tell me, “Come play with me!”
This child inside is fully present and very alive. When I feel disconnected from myself, others, or God, re-embodying my soul child lets me re-experience his joy and hopefulness. I keep his photo in a convenient place. When I need to remember myself, I look at this photograph and immediately smile. Like a new wellspring, the life gushes up in me and I feel the aliveness of my soul child.
To return to our essence is to gather up all the things in our soul that we had forgotten and lost. And when we have made that journey back to our true nature, we are whole and complete.
Spiritual practice: Look deeply at photos of yourself as a young child. What of your soul child energy can you re-experience?
Self-inquiry: What are some reasons why you may wish to return to your simpler, most honest self?
Dear God,
There is no way I can fully recapture the wonder of those times, but with your spirit, I can re-experience the wonder, joy, and beauty of it all. I am present. Amen
