how does IT work on the ground?
Christians who believe in what the Bible says believe that God manifests Himself in three forms: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Father seems to be the first definition of God, while the Son and the Spirit come from the Father. Jesus the Son is well-documented both in Scripture and popular religious culture, but the Holy Spirit remains somewhat of a mystery, to me at least.
How do we know the Holy Spirit? How do we see the Holy Spirit in action? Do we see the Holy Spirit? Is it a phantom of our faith? Do we ever know how to distinguish what is the Holy Spirit and what is a natural progression of events? Does a natural progression of events mean that it's just science working and not the Holy Spirit? Does something happen as a product of the law of probability or random chance? Is there justice in everything that happens? Or is everything a mystery? There are too many questions. I don't know the answers. I don't know if I ever will.
But one time the thought occurred to me that maybe you can actually see the Holy Spirit working on the ground when something beyond your natural capacity/tendencies happens. When you overcome a previous failure, when you stretch beyond a threshold you'd never been able to cross. or when you finally have a solution or peace about something that was getting the better of you. Is that the Holy Spirit? Is it then God that is doing what we see in our mortal lives that which we know has previously been unreachable? Is it that forgiveness we'd never been able to give? That addiction we'd never been able to cast off? Is it that acceptance we never thought would come?
We need more of the Holy Spirit. I know I do. But needing more or desiring more of the Holy Spirit is fundamentally different from other needs/requests. For example, I'd like to have more sunny days, tacos and free boxing matches with quality opponents. No, these things aren't even close to being as important, but I would like more of them, and at least I know where to look for them and how to know when they're there. I wish I knew how to better appreciate when that "more" of the Holy Spirit really is.
How do we know the Holy Spirit? How do we see the Holy Spirit in action? Do we see the Holy Spirit? Is it a phantom of our faith? Do we ever know how to distinguish what is the Holy Spirit and what is a natural progression of events? Does a natural progression of events mean that it's just science working and not the Holy Spirit? Does something happen as a product of the law of probability or random chance? Is there justice in everything that happens? Or is everything a mystery? There are too many questions. I don't know the answers. I don't know if I ever will.
But one time the thought occurred to me that maybe you can actually see the Holy Spirit working on the ground when something beyond your natural capacity/tendencies happens. When you overcome a previous failure, when you stretch beyond a threshold you'd never been able to cross. or when you finally have a solution or peace about something that was getting the better of you. Is that the Holy Spirit? Is it then God that is doing what we see in our mortal lives that which we know has previously been unreachable? Is it that forgiveness we'd never been able to give? That addiction we'd never been able to cast off? Is it that acceptance we never thought would come?
We need more of the Holy Spirit. I know I do. But needing more or desiring more of the Holy Spirit is fundamentally different from other needs/requests. For example, I'd like to have more sunny days, tacos and free boxing matches with quality opponents. No, these things aren't even close to being as important, but I would like more of them, and at least I know where to look for them and how to know when they're there. I wish I knew how to better appreciate when that "more" of the Holy Spirit really is.
posted by J B at 2:22 PM
0 comments
