William Palmer

Guest columnist

President Trump has a problem with soul. Just one recent example is his inflammatory treatment of four congresswomen of color.

We may agree that soul is someone’s essence or vital spirit. But consider this definition by Parker Palmer, educator and social activist (no relation). Soul is “that life-giving core of the human self, with its hunger for truth and justice, love and forgiveness.” His definition contains touchstones we can use to judge the character of our president and our nation.

In his book "A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Toward an Undivided Life," Palmer uses an analogy to explain soul’s significance. On the Great Plains before a blizzard hit, farmers would run a rope from their house to their barn so no one would get lost and freeze to death. Soul is like this rope — it can lead us back home.

Our life-giving core bridges our outer and inner lives. While it can be abused “by racism, sexism, economic injustice, and other social cancers,” the soul remains present to guide us — if we seek it. Our president does not value this core. He keeps building walls between outer and inner lives.

Poetry often reminds us we have a soul. In “Bone,” the late Mary Oliver writes:

Understand, I am always trying to figure out what the soul is, and where hidden, and what shape —

She compares the soul to the ear bone of a pilot whale she found on a beach. “It was only / two inches long — / and I thought: the soul / might be like this — so hard, so necessary / yet almost nothing.”

Oliver expresses what seems inexpressible about soul:

yet don’t we all know, the golden sand is there at the bottom, though our eyes have never seen it, nor can our hands ever catch it

Clearly, we do not all recognize or appreciate soul. Yet for those who do, Oliver’s words reinforce the notion that soul is the foundation of our being.

Oliver arrives at a peaceful acceptance of soul’s paradox:

and what the soul is, also I believe I will never quite know. Though I play at the edges of knowing, truly I know our part is not knowing, but looking, and touching, and loving . . .

Soul is too elusive to understand fully. But Oliver inspires us to look for signs of soul: they help us feel grateful we exist.

Walt Whitman saw soul as “a noiseless patient spider.” It does not spin webs to catch prey; rather, the soul seeks connection: “Till the bridge you will need be form’d, till the ductile anchor hold, / Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul.” The soul strives to join other souls, anchoring us in the process, ductile suggesting we can stretch without breaking.

Does it matter what we call soul, as long as soul calls us? Lucille Clifton addresses this, from her poem “roots”:

call it our craziness our wildness call it our roots, it is the light in us it is the light of us it is the light, call it whatever you have to, call it anything

What is most important has no clear name, Clifton reminds us. Yet we need to honor it.

Donald Trump’s problem with soul — his racism, sexism, and layers upon layers of lies— shows his disregard for our nation’s life-giving core.

In "The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels," historian Jon Meacham argues that to understand our country, we must understand its soul. Yet “to speak of soul at all — either of a person or of a country — can seem speculative and gauzy.” Yes. But speaking of soul helps us realize what matters most.

In our nation’s battle between good and evil, Meacham embraces Lincoln’s image of “the better angels of our nature.” He calls on us to remember them and to turn to them now:

In our finest hours … the soul of the country manifests itself in an inclination to open our arms rather than to clench our fists; to look out rather than to turn inward; to accept rather than to reject. In so doing, America has grown ever stronger, confident that the choice of light over dark is the means by which we pursue progress.

Our better angels have life-giving cores.

William Palmer, Traverse City, Michigan, is professor emeritus of English at Alma College in central Michigan and author of "Discovering Arguments: An Introduction to Critical Thinking, Writing, and Style."