Holy Spirit

Hello Everyone,

I have been teaching confirmation class over the last few months. Four of us get together every so often. We draw pictures and talk. Sometimes we talk about the church and beliefs handed down by the church over the years. Since those I am conversing with are 13 to 16 years old, it is always a challenge: best not use "church speak." So today we talked about the Holy Spirit.

We started by looking at the first book of the Bible, Genesis, where we read about the wind of God hovering over the waters. Then we turned to the 20th chapter of the gospel of John that has Jesus giving his disciples the Holy Spirit by breathing on them. Then off to the 2nd Chapter of Acts where the Spirit rushes around the room like a 'great wind." We also noticed in Acts that the image of fire, specifically "tongues of fire" stood in for the Holy Spirit. Lots of breath, breathing, wind -- moving air. And this is what we noticed about the Spirit. Like wind, like breath, you can feel the Spirit but you cannot see it. Further, if you try to capture Spirit - put it in a box, can it - it eludes you. Who has ever captured the moving wind? As we talked in confirmation this seemed important -- not just doctrinely important, but important for our lives.

It is often said that the best things in life cannot be captured, held, bought or sold: they are free and wild, often appearing when we least expect it. Think about love -- one doesn't manufacture or buy love (thank you Lennon and McCartney) one "falls" into love. And you know what falling is like: you are walking on the sidewalk, trip on a crack and before you know it you are on the ground. Since love is like falling it is not something that we can plan. You just fall. You just feel love. All this feels like the Holy Spirit. You cannot see it, you cannot feel it and as those gathered together on Pentecost learned it can be pretty wild, showing up in way that can never be planned doing what it will.

So, where do we experience the Holy Spirit? In chapters 12 and 13 of Paul's first letter to the Corinthians Paul talks about the gifts of the Spirit. The gifts of the Spirit "come" to people unbidden. The gifts of the Spirit are such that some people preach and others teach, some speak in tongues and others interpret what is said in tongues, etc.... Gifts come to people. Put these gifts together and community is enhanced. And we know this: sometimes we marvel at how well our communities work -- we can feel it, we can look at the gifts but when we ask how, we can't see it. That is the nature of a gift, it appears. We might say that it is the Holy Spirit. But what does that mean? One can feel it but not see it or grasp it.

When Paul gets to Chapter 13 of 1st Corinthians he speaks of the spiritual gift of love. He calls it the greatest spiritual gift. So, the greatest spiritual gift: you cannot see, you cannot grasp it, buy or sell it. But, you know it is there. As you fall into it, you can feel it. It is a strong feeling, so strong that it becomes the glue to community -- it is the strength of our togetherness. Love does what it will, forming community as it will. In many ways we are along for the ride. That being said, the bonds of love are the glue of life. That is why in the church we say that the Holy Spirit fosters our community, makes us the Church.

That's what I learned in confirmation class today. Thank you Kaley, Sarah and Landon! The Spirit is like wind or breath or fire -- it cannot be grasped, or contained. The Spirit comes bearing gifts -- our lives are unpredictably transformed. The Spirit binds us together, makes us one as it flows through our lives.

Blessings,

David