This is the question Jim Wallis asks Whitney Parnell at the beginning of their conversation on the podcast, The Soul of The Nation.
What a powerful and fitting question. Certainly for these times. Maybe for all times.
It’s a better question than “How are you?” We’ve trivialized that one with overuse and weak and sometimes false response.
We answer “How are you?” with “I’m fine,” when we’re really not. Or we hint at the truth with, “Well, I’m on my feet today,” or “Not too bad.”
Too often we (well, I) minimize our (my) concern with “How are you?” I can ask that one with genuine concern or not. You wouldn’t know.
“How’s your spirit today?” asks to know something a little more deeply. It’s a question of tenderness. And we all need tenderness, especially these days.
I find that I ask “How’s your spirit?” with a softer heart, a listening heart. I am aware that I am walking on sacred ground, the soft earth of your soul.
Today I pray that your spirit is being cared for.
We help each other thrive when the checking in with each other comes from a list of inner kindnesses:…Do you need any affirmation? Clarity? Support? Understanding?
Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening