Eastertide
May 4, 2018
Scripture Reading: 1 John 5:1-6
This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth. –1 John 5:6
I have only experienced a small number of interactions with the Spirit that I would describe as sharp and clear. Once, for example, when I prayed for the forgiveness of the sin of another person, I got the instant response that I was not the person who needed to pray that prayer. Stunned would best describe my reaction and I have never prayed such a prayer since. Most of my communications with the Spirit involves a nagging feeling that something is amiss, and I need to figure out what it is and correct it. The Spirit is also with me in joy when something goes well, and I experience a resounding Yes! within my being. I have also been so caught up in the moment that I did not realize the Spirit had been at play with me through a major issue until later when I had time to look back over the event and see touches of the Spirit in many places.
I share this with you because I fear the Holy Spirit has gotten a bad rap in our rational world. I am incapable of defining God or the Spirit or God Incarnate but that does not mean they do not exist. I do love Jesus and would probably have followed his teachings and way of being had he never been associated with God. I know others who do just that, identifying themselves as a Christian atheist. Jesus, however, depended fully on God. I am greatly comforted by the experience and knowledge of a force which is love shepherding my life and the lives of all who encounter God in their daily walk.
O love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
that in thine ocean depths its flow
may richer, fuller be.
O light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee;
my heart restores its borrowed ray,
that in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
may brighter, fairer be*.
Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for your persistence when I am oblivious and your presence when I am overwhelmed. Amen.
*First and second verses of O Love that Wilt not Let Me Go by George Matheson, See at https://hymnary.org/text/o_love_that_wilt_not_let_me_go