The Holy Spirit

Richard Rohr on The Holy Spirit.

“God’s Spirit and our spirit bear common witness that we are indeed children of God.” (Romans 8:16) The goal is a shared knowing and a common power-totally initiated and given from God’s side, as we see dramatized on Pentecost (Acts 2:1-13).  As when Mary conceives Jesus by the Holy Spirit, it is “done unto us” and all we can do is allow, enjoy, and draw life from this powerful gift. We would be foolish to think it is our own creation.  To span the infinite gap between Divine and human, God’s agenda is to plant a little bit of God – the Holy Spirit-right inside us (Jeremiah 31:31-34; John14:16-26). This is the meaning of the “new” covenant, which replaces our “heart of stone with a heart of flesh” promised in Ezekiel (36:25-27). Isn’t that wonderful?

The Divined Indwelling is central to authentic Christian spirituality. Yet we could consider the Holy Spirit to be the “lost” or undiscovered person of the Blessed Trinity. No wonder we seek power in all the wrong places-since we have not made contact with our true power, the Indwelling Spirit (Romans 8:9,11; 1Corinthians 3:16).

(Richard suggests that the Holy Spirit is the ultimate answer to our prayers.)

We pray not to change God but to change ourselves. We pray to form a living relationship, not to get things done. Prayer is a symbiotic relationship with life and with God, a synergy which creates a result larger than the exchange itself. God knows that we need to pray to keep the symbiotic relationship moving and growing.  Prayer is not a way to try to control God, or even get what we want. As Jesus says in Luke’s Gospel (11:13), the answer to every prayer is one, the same, and the best: The Holy Spirit! God gives us power more than answers.

A truly spiritual woman, a truly whole man, is a very powerful person. The fully revealed God of the Bible is not interested in keeping us as children (1Corinthians 13:11) or “orphans”(John 14:18). God wants adult partners who can handle power and critique themselves. (Hebrews 5:11-6:1)

Eileen: I find this a bit scary. Power seems to me to be the greatest temptation. But when I’m really screwing up, the Holy Spirit has shown up in amazing ways often beyond my understanding, to get me back on the Path/Way of Jesus. No human is infallible, but God can even use our mistakes once we really experience sorrow for them.  When making decisions, it’s important to not only pray for wisdom, but watch for it coming in a lot of different ways.  Sometimes we miss answers because they can even come through people we don’t consider wise or Godly.  I often have Spiritual Alzheimer’s and have to relearn until it sticks.    Keeping ears and eyes open and on the alert in even small events and sometimes encounters with strangers is amazingly fruitful, but easy to ignore.  I am sharing this today to help myself increase my own awareness.  Most of what I write is what I need to hear or remember. Prayer is meant to be dialogue, but isn’t always just words, particularly God’s answers.  Awareness of the Holy Spirit within us, in others, and in nature and everything else is the dialogue called prayer.

In Jesus’ name we pray: Come Holy Spirit, open our minds, hearts, and bodies to your presence and guidance in each step of our journey.

(Note: Symbiosis is the art of living together.)