We Have Forgotten the Spirit
We Have Forgotten the Spirit
Why I Write, Teach, and Coach
By J. Steve Bruner
People often ask me why I continue to write books, mentor people, teach the Enneagram, and spend so much of my life exploring Scripture, psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, and the contemplative tradition.
The answer is surprisingly simple.
I believe we have neglected the human spirit.
We speak constantly about caring for the body. We know what to eat, how to exercise, how many steps to take each day, and which supplements may improve our health. We have become increasingly aware of mental health. We discuss anxiety, trauma, resilience, emotional intelligence, and positive thinking. We have learned a great deal about the mind, and that is a good thing.
But somewhere along the way we quietly forgot the deepest part of ourselves.
The spirit.
Not religion.
Not church attendance.
Not merely believing the right doctrines.
The spirit.
The place where God meets the human soul.
This is why The Soulprint Code exists.
It is not another self-improvement system.
It is not another religious program.
It is an invitation to recover the forgotten center of what it means to be human.
Scripture tells us we are created in the image of God. We are not simply minds that think or bodies that move. Neither are we merely emotional creatures reacting to life's circumstances.
We are spiritual beings.
The soul, what I call our Soulprint, is the mysterious harmony of body, mind, and spirit. Yet harmony only exists when the spirit is leading. When the spirit awakens, the mind begins to think differently, the emotions find their proper place, and even the body begins to live with greater peace and purpose.
Most of us have reversed the order.
We allow our emotions to lead.
Or our intellect.
Or our ambitions.
Or our fears.
The spirit becomes an occasional visitor rather than the quiet guide it was created to be.
This neglect is not limited to our culture.
It has found its way into many of our churches.
Please don't misunderstand me.
I celebrate what God has done through the modern church. I am grateful for pastors who faithfully preach the Gospel. I marvel at the extraordinary music coming from many congregations today. Some worship songs have become the hymns of our generation, and I have stood among thousands of believers singing them with tears in my eyes.
But I cannot ignore something that seems to be missing.
Silence.
I have attended countless worship services over the years, including many in remarkable churches, yet I can scarcely remember one where the congregation was invited into several minutes of intentional silence before God.
Not awkward silence.
Holy silence.
The kind of silence that does not simply prepare us for worship.
The kind that is worship.
Silence is where the soul begins to hear what noise has drowned out.
It is where prayer becomes listening instead of talking.
It is where the Spirit gently rearranges the furniture of our hearts.
It is where we discover that God has been speaking all along.
There was a time when churches understood this.
Many cathedrals and old parish churches remained open throughout the day.
Anyone could walk inside.
No performance.
No production.
No schedule.
Just quiet.
A candle is burning.
Light filtering through stained glass.
A wooden pew.
A whispered prayer.
A grieving widow.
A young man searching for direction.
An elderly pilgrim sitting in silence before God.
The building itself became a sanctuary because people knew the soul needed sacred space.
Today, many churches lock their doors only hours after worship ends.
The sanctuary has become a venue.
Useful.
Beautiful.
Efficient.
But often unavailable to the weary soul that simply longs to sit in God's presence.
Perhaps we have unintentionally communicated that God is most accessible during scheduled events.
I do not believe that was ever His intention.
Contemplation is not primarily a technique.
This is where many people misunderstand it.
Centering prayer, meditation, breath prayers, and silence are wonderful practices. They have shaped my own life immeasurably.
But contemplation is something much deeper.
It is learning to see life through the Spirit.
It is becoming aware that God is already present.
It is allowing the Spirit to lead while the mind and body learn to follow.
That is harmony.
That is what Jesus demonstrated.
That is what the Beatitudes describe.
That is the rhythm of the Kingdom of God.
Eventually, contemplation leaves the prayer chair.
It walks into the grocery store.
It enters board meetings.
It changes conversations with your spouse.
It reshapes the way you answer criticism.
It slows your response to anger.
It teaches you to notice beauty.
It transforms ordinary moments into holy ground.
You become contemplative not because you spend thirty minutes in silence, but because your entire way of seeing has been transformed.
This is why I often say that to be spiritual is to become more deeply human.
The goal is not escaping the world.
It is seeing the world as God sees it.
The contemplative does not withdraw from life.
The contemplative enters life more fully.
The Spirit awakens the mind.
The renewed mind guides the emotions.
The emotions energize the body.
The body becomes an instrument of love.
Everything begins to move together.
Not perfectly.
But harmoniously.
After more than fifty years of studying Scripture, walking with people through suffering, learning from the Christian mystics, exploring philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, and the wisdom of the Enneagram, I have become convinced that transformation is rarely about learning one more idea.
Most of us already know more than we practice.
Transformation happens when the spirit becomes alive enough that everything else begins to reorganize itself around God.
That is why The Soulprint Code is more than books.
It is more than coaching.
It is more than an Enneagram assessment.
It is more than contemplation.
It is an ecosystem designed to help people recover the forgotten rhythm of the soul.
Not by escaping life.
But by entering it more fully.
If my work accomplishes anything, I hope it reminds people that beneath the noise of our culture, beneath the endless pursuit of success, beneath the constant stimulation of technology, and even beneath much of our religious activity, there remains a quiet invitation from God.
"Be still, and know that I am God."
Perhaps the greatest need of our generation is not more information.
It is a deeper formation.
Not louder voices.
But quieter hearts.
Not bigger crowds.
But awakened souls.
That is why I write.
That is why I teach.
That is why I coach.
Because I believe every person carries within them a unique Soulprint, the image of God waiting to be awakened, and I believe the Spirit is still calling us home. Home is living in the Kingdom of God, even now, and also for eternity.