There's a modern hymn that my churches loved to sing, and there's a line in the song that I sang but never quite understood. But it wasn't until this Sunday when I was "attending" someone else's Youtube service that I actually stopped to ponder what it meant. The line is "speak the word your soul can claim."

I think the reason the hymn is sung so often is that it affirms the value of each person, the role each can have in healing the world. It begins: "I have called you by your name, you are mine;/I have gifted you and ask you now to shine./I will not abandon you; all my promises are true./You are gifted, called, and chosen; you are mine."

The line I find difficult comes in the third verse which is specifically about the role of a minister and refers to the task of preaching. The author could have written "speak the word you know is true." That would be a reasonable expectation for words from the pulpit. Or, it could have read "speak the word passed on to you." Again, a reasonable thought.

Something changes when it says, "speak the word your soul can claim." It is not enough that what is spoken is true. It is not enough that it is part of the tradition. The person speaking has to "own" it.

As I pondered what my soul claims, I gazed out the window. I saw trees and heard crows. I saw a natural world that I love living with. This is what I claim, I thought. By claim, I did not mean own in the sense of property in my name, but I claim a relationship with this land and all its creatures. I claim a relationship that includes responsibility.

This got me thinking about what else I claim as important and true that needs to be spoken. Questions of privilege and equity matter to me, and these I speak of as loudly as I can. I value laughter and joy, and I think that I try to embody these in the words I speak and write.

One of the challenges of the line is the "claim." I don't use that word naturally. The thesaurus offered declare and believe as synonyms. I declare that engaging in the conversation about climate is valuable, and I believe that we are not alone, that God has a vision of wholeness for all, all people and all creation. And again, these are ideas that I speak about. But the word claim suggests that what I declare and believe has to matter, has to be an integral part of me.

Now I get to the word "soul." So far in these reflections, I have simply substituted the word "spirit" in my thinking. For me, spirit is what connects us to the world and to each other. Spirit is what yearns for good. Spirit is where meaning and purpose reside. The word "spirit," however, would not have fit in the line of music. The author needed a 1 syllable word, soul. But is rhythm the only reason for that word choice?

"Soul" speaks of what is internal, and in that sense is interchangeable with "spirit." But soul, as a bit of an old-fashioned word, hints at what is eternal, what is enduring beyond our physical life. "Soul" reminds us that we are limited beings but that we can connect to what is transcendent, what is beyond.

Not every word out of my mouth will be "a word my soul can claim." I will still speak silly things just to make someone laugh. I will speak of ordinary things so that the people I live with know what I am thinking, what I am planning. I will speak in a way that lets the person I am with know that I am listening. I will speak my thoughts so that I am known. But I will also keep in mind this admonition, this summons to speak what my spirit knows.

Cathy Hird lives on the traditional territory of the Saugeen Ojibway