Spirit Of All That Lives

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awe, breath, counsel, fear of the Lord, fortitude, gifts, Holy Spirit, knowledge, Pentecost, piety, Prayer Seeds, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, understanding, wisdom, wonder

Today we celebrate the outpouring of the power that we call the Holy Spirit. Every inspiration that leads us deeper into the transformation of our hearts in love is understood as an impulse of this face of God. This Spirit is as elemental as our breath, unseen but known in myriad ways great and small – universal and individual. It is as simple as the intake of my breath at the beauty of the burgeoning flowers in spring or as miraculous as the moment a young woman first holds her newborn child. The Spirit brings many gifts, taught in Christianity (traditionally and then in modern parlance) as wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel (right judgment), fortitude (courage), piety (reverence) and fear of the Lord (Wonder and awe in God’s presence).

Let us be grateful in this celebration as we pray: Spirit of the Universe, Spirit of my heart, I welcome you into my life. Come visit the places within me where Love has yet to find a dwelling place. Breathe within all of my existence with the power of your transforming grace. I open my entire being to you and thank you for the gift of your presence. Amen. (Prayer Seeds, p. 172)

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Peaceable Kingdom

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Advent, counsel, courage, fear of the Lord, Holy Spirit, Isaiah, knowledge, living in the present, natural response, peaceable kingdom, right judgment, strength, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, understanding, wisdom, without judgment

Today’s first reading from the Prophet Isaiah conjures up images of lions and lambs – or all kinds of animals – in a country scene, usually a forest glade, on Christmas cards. The text speaks of the time when there shall be no harm or ruin on all [God’s] holy mountain for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord. This is the same reading that gives Christian denominations a way to speak of the Holy Spirit as it enumerates the gifts the Spirit bestows: wisdom, understanding, counsel (right judgment), knowledge, strength (courage) and fear of the Lord (wonder and awe in God’s presence).* (IS 11:1-10) Interestingly, the reading speaks of a child as the center and motivating force of this peaceful existence and the gospel (LK 10:21-24) praises God for having revealed the “secrets” of the kingdom of heaven to the childlike rather than to the (perhaps purportedly) wise and learned.

Why all this as the chosen readings for the early days of Advent? Perhaps to call us to adjust the lens through which we look at the world. Little children do not usually live in fear but rather (until they are taught otherwise) move toward new experiences and encounters with people/animals, etc. The childlike are usually less self-conscious and less needy of approval, thus delight is a natural response to things. In other words, they (all of the above) open themselves to reality without judgment and are generally able to let go of bad experiences by living in the present moment. Of course, my generalizations here are broad and subject to claims of being wildly naïve. My point is only that I think we would do well to consider more willingness to accept difference instead of fearing it wherever we find it and to live each day with a positive attitude, using those spiritual gifts enumerated above as our guide. It can’t hurt and it might help to hasten the peaceable kingdom so lacking in the world of today.

*The words in parentheses are translations of Spirit-gifts in modern usage in some Christian denominations and the gift of reverence is a welcome addition to the other six.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For Young and Old Alike

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awe, beauty, fear of the Lord, majesty, psalm 111, religious education, seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Timothy, wisdom, wonder, youth

When I was teaching high school and, later, working in religious education with teenagers, I always referred them to the first letter of Timothy, a young disciple of Paul, specifically to the line that said, “Never let people look down on you because you are young, but see that they look up to you because of your love and faith and purity.” This morning I find that line (1TIM 4:12) – although translated a bit differently as “Let no one have contempt for your youth…” – as a call to all of us who are older to give more than a passing glance to young people whose journey to adulthood has likely been much more complicated than mine and to seek the good that may sometimes be hidden in them.

Another of my memories from those days of parish religious education was the shift in translation of the “seven gifts of the Holy Spirit” taught as they prepared for the sacrament of Confirmation. Most welcome was the change from “fear of the Lord” to “wonder and awe in God’s presence.” That made so much sense to me. I believe that the sense of that gift was always “God is so big and I am so small” but rather than conveying a duty to cower in the face of that huge presence, we are called to bow in wonder to the majesty and beauty of God. Perhaps that awe is most easily seen in small children for whom almost everything is a cause for wonder.

Lest you think I am lost in a reverie of by-gone teaching days, I was drawn to think of all this in connection as I read Psalm 111 today, which says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” This reminds me that I need to nurture that sense of wonder and awe in young people, listen to them for growing insights about the workings of God in the world and find wisdom where it is birthed in them. We generally hear that wisdom is a virtue not characteristic of the young. While it is true that experience is the best teacher of wisdom, I would advocate for attention to what they can teach us older folks of newness and fresh perspective, and pray for them as they will be the ones to change the world.