"Spirit" and "soul" are indeed metaphors, Janie. They are metaphors for thought. Everything is made of thought, and it is thought that both forms and informs matter. Matter is a thought that has been slowed down enough to be perceivable by what we term "the physical senses".

"God" is also a metaphor. It's a metaphor for the one original thought, the summation of all thoughts, the origin of all thoughts, and the power of all thoughts. Since it is thought that created the Universe, "God" is characterized as the Creator. Most people see "the Creator" as a larger and more powerful reflection of themselves, so they clothe God with human characteristics, just a thinking reptile might clothe God with reptilian characteristics.

God is beyond human or reptilian or any other such specific defining terms, being simply pure thought, in essence. Thought also manifests as light...hence...to be "enlightened". A thought appearing in a thoughtless void is a light appearing in the darkness. A void is simply a lack of anything. Thought can fill that void, give it meaning and form, and manifest itself in any way whatsoever.

;-)

(and now I await Bill's gigantic philosophical response to that....)

"Where is your PROOF???????"   (smile)

Does a drop of water attempt to prove the existence of the limitless ocean of which it is one infinitesimal part? No. If it is like most other drops of water, it is so fixated upon its own tiny concerns and desires, and the actions of its immediate neighbours, that it is barely even aware the ocean exists. Nevertheless, the ocean continues to provide a grand and generous field for the water droplet to act out its little dramas upon. (one of those dramas being "the search for proof" when the droplet has made an assertion or is questioning the assertion of another droplet)