On this Pentecost Sunday we wait for the emergence of the Spirit to fill our lives and eliminate our problems. But God's Spirit doesn't work in that way. We are filled with God's Spirit and our problems just begin, because we see the world with new eyes and recognize fully that our attitudes and beliefs are not consonant with this new vision.
Maybe we read Galatians and learn from Paul that the Law (scripture) is a great schoolmaster but at some point we need to grow up and learn to live by the Spirit. For him that meant that Gentiles could come to Christ through faith with nothing more required. For us maybe that means that homosexuals have the same freedom. Our old formulas for who is in and who is out of God's favor gets turned on its head. We have to make adjustments.
Perhaps our first reaction to the news that Osama Bin Laden had been killed was to party in the streets with other Americans, but somewhere deep inside there is this gnawing sense that we are simply continuing the cycle of violence and not really making our world a safer place. This thought certainly makes us feel out of place amid the celebration and self-congratulations, and we're afraid to say any such thing at the water cooler.
Yes, one can get all kinds of strange ideas when one gets filled with the Spirit. It can complicate one's life.
Has the fire touched you yet? Are you willing to be touched?
“Allowing ourselves to be touched by fire” seems to be a apt metaphor for looking for encounters with the Spirit. Our tendency is to avoid spiritual practices as if we were near a hot stove.
ReplyDeleteBeing present to notice the Spirit at work seems to take second priority to “needing to be busy,” or filling every waking moment with ear bud sound, or planning for every future contingency. You would think people would burn if they didn't multi-task.
Spiritual discoveries can happen if we concentrate on one task at a time. Think of that Jewish Sabbath prayer to notice previously ignored daily miracles.
Wisdom indeed
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