Gifts of the Holy Spirit

If John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit from before the time of his birth, how much more was Jesus, the seed of the Holy Spirit!   Yet, at His baptism by John in the river Jordan, "the Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove."

As we emerge into our own as persons, we take up the ministry of our lives---that which we were born to accomplish on this earth.  At that moment, or in those moments, we are given a measure of the Spirit of God to prepare us, to strengthen us, for ministry. 

Isaiah describes the Spirit of the Lord as the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.  As a result of the release of the Spirit into the world, "the wolf will lie down with the lamb......they will neither harm nor destroy...and the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord" (Is. 11:1-9).

Any mother or father knows that he/she has need of wisdom and of understanding, of counsel and of power, of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.  We cannot operate on a day-to-day basis without the gifts of the Spirit, for only the Spirit knows what is going on the heart of a child and what that child needs.

We often think of "ministry" as what we do outside of the home, but if we would only begin by seeking the gifts of the Spirit where we are, we would find that we are not alone in our daily work.  As Paul said, "I planted the seed; Apollos watered it, but God gave the growth."  No matter what we are doing today, we are hoping that something or someone will grow from our efforts; to that end, we open our work to the Holy Spirit, awaiting and expecting His gifts in our lives.

Magnetic Fields of the Soul

One of my favorite books for over 30 years has been Dag Hammarskjold's Markings.  In 1953, Hammarskjold was elected Secretary-General of the United Nations, and he was re-elected in 1957.  He died in a plane crash in 1961 while flying to negotiate a cease-fire between U.N. and Katanga forces.

Hammarskjold described his journal as "a sort of white-book concerning my negotiations with myself and with God."  In it, he records how he "marked" his own spiritual conduct, how he measured the integrity of his soul, how he regarded his life as a call from God, and his premonition of death.

One of the 1952 entries in his journal describes an experience that most of us have had at one time or another:

Now you know.  When the worries over your work loosen their grip, then this experience of light, warmth, and power.

From without---a sustaining element, like air to the glider or water to the swimmer.

An intellectual hesitation which demands proofs and logical demonstration prevents me from "believing"--in this, too.  Prevents me from expressing and interpreting this reality in intellectual terms.

Yet, through me there flashes this vision of a magnetic field in the soul, created in a timeless present by unknown multitudes, living in holy obedience, whose words and actions are a timeless prayer.

---"The Communion of Saints"---and---within it---an eternal life.

Carl Jung writes of a "collective unconscious" that influences each succeeding generation, whether they know it or not.  Over a period of 20 years beginning in 1948, 5209 people in Framingham, Mass., were studied, along with the next generation (their descendents), and a third generation, to determine if happiness was "contagious."  What the researchers found was that the happiness of individuals (i.e. peace, joy, contentment) depends on the happiness of others with whom they are connected.  They concluded that happiness, like health, is a collective phenomenon--when an individual becomes content, that contentment spreads to those around them.  The "contagion," interestingly, does not apply to people at work, but only to true relationships.  So, working side by side with other people does not mean we absorb their moods, but rather, "happy people tend to be located in the center of their local social networks and in large clusters of other happy people."  In other words, the health and well-being of one person deeply affects the health and well-being of others in the network, up to three degrees of separation.

Dag Hammarskjold "knew" this phenomenon from experience, even though at the time, there was no Framingham study to express what he knew in terms he could intellectually describe.  He intuitively called it a "magnetic field of the soul."

When we are spiritually open and transparent to God, it makes us also spiritually open and transparent to others, "making space" for them to be themselves without fear of rejection.  In God's presence and warmth, we grow more fully into ourselves and allow others to grow in our presence to be more fully themselves.  No wonder we are happy!  No wonder that happiness is contagious!

on Humility

St. Teresa remarks to her sisters that humility is the foundation on which all the other virtues rest; St. Augustine said that the spiritual life depends on three things: humility, humility, humility.

But in a way, humility always puzzled me; it seemed that the more one "tried" to be humble, the more chance we had to be "proud" of our humility.  Finally, I am beginning to get a glimpse of true humility.

Mary said in the Magnificat:  My soul rejoices in God my Savior because He has done great things for me.

Humility has nothing at all with trying to be humble; it does not try to do anything, in fact.  The focus of the person who is truly humble is not on himself, but on God, who can and will do everything necessary in us and for us.

As Andrew Murray points out in his work on Humility, Jesus had the utmost confidence in the Father as the One Who did all of the work.  He saw Himself as the instrument through which God had total freedom to do His work.  His surrender to the Father was absolute---God had permission to do whatever He saw fit with the instrument of His only Son.  Jesus was not here to do great things, but only to bring men to the Father, who would do great things for them, as Mary recognized. 

The Son can do nothing of himself (Jn. 5:19).
I am come not to do mine own will, but the will of Him who sent Me (Jn. 6:38).
My teaching is not mine (Jn. 7:16).
I do nothing of myself (Jn. 8:28).
I have not come of myself, but he sent me (Jn. 8:42).
The words that I say I speak not from myself (Jn.14:10).
The words that you hear are not mine (Jn.14:24).

Andrew Murray points out that this is the life Jesus came to impart to us:

He teaches us where true humility takes its rise and finds its strength--in the knowledge that it is God who works all in all, that our place is to yield to Him in perfect resignation and dependence, in full consent to be and do nothing of ourselves.....Let us, above everything, seek the holy secret of the the knowledge of the nature of God as He every moment works all in all; the secret, of which all nature and every creature, and above all, every child of God, is to be the witness, that it is nothing but a vessel, a channel, through which the living God can manifest the riches of His wisdom, power, and goodness.

[Jesus] felt Himself the Servant of God for the men whom God made and loved; as a natural consequence, He counted Himself the Servant of men, that through Him God might do His work of love.

What a difference from "trying to be humble"---to recognize that God wants to do great things for us, if we will only let Him do what He wants in us and for us.  Yeaaaaaaaaa, God!

A Special Prayer

Someone gave me this prayer to say when I had lung cancer.  I am still saying it every morning, for myself and for others, and it means so much to me that I want to share it with everyone I know:

Heavenly Father, I call on you right now in a special way.  It is through your power that I was created.  Every breath I take every morning I wake and every moment of every hour I live under your power.  Father, I ask you now to touch me with that same power.  For if you created me from nothing, you can certainly recreate me.  Fill me with the healing power of your spirit.  Cast out anything that should not be in me.  Mend what is broken.  Root out any unproductive cells.  Open my blocked arteries or veins and rebuild any damaged areas.  Remove all inflammation and cleanse any infection.  Let the warmth of your healing love pass through my body to make new any unhealthy areas so that my body will function the way you created it to function.  And, Father, restore me to full health in mind and body so that I may serve you the rest of my life.  I ask this through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

God's Sense of Humor

God uses the weak and foolish things of this world to shame the great and powerful, according to the words of St. Paul.  Indeed, in the period of Judges in the nation of Israel, before the time of kings, there was a woman by the name of Deborah, who sat under a tree, "judging" the nation.  What it meant was that people would come to her for advice and wisdom with problems and disputes they could not solve themselves.

When Jabin, a king of Canaan, attacked Israel with nine hundred iron chariots and cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the Lord for help.  Deborah sent for Barak, the leader of Israel's army, and told him to take his troops to Mount Tabor, where Jabin's army (under Sisera, the commander) would be given into his hands.  Barak refused to go without Deborah; she agreed, but told him that as a result, "the Lord will hand Sisera over to a woman."

Amazingly, this story is almost duplicated in the 1400's with Joan of Arc, who led an army to defeat the invading king of England. 

Recently, I've been reading the writings of Teresa of Avila without knowing the background history and context of her life.  Now I discover that in her lifetime, the scholars and theologians of the Inquisition were banning books on mental prayer, contemplation, because women would be led astray by them, and "the Our Father and Hail Mary were sufficient for women."  If they needed a book, according to the experts, it could be read to them while they sat sewing at their husband's side.  The prevailing wisdom was that women should be allowed to leave their homes only three times:  at their baptism, for their marriage, and for their burial. 

And here comes Teresa, traveling all over Spain, founding houses of contemplative prayer, and writing books on prayer for women, teaching them how to enter into contemplation.  She would not allow anyone to join her order if they could not read, because reading was such an aid to prayer.   Ha ha ha.  Does God have a sense of humor, or what?

Why Pray?

God wants to teach us great mysteries---but unless we sit still for awhile, we cannot hear His voice. 

Why should we pray?  Isn't God ultimately in charge of the universe?  Well, no; He gave man dominion over the earth.  We rule spiritually over the events of the world. When we pray "Thy kingdom come," we are relinquishing/ surrendering our control over the world to a divine and wiser power.  We, in a sense, are giving God permission to act in the areas that concern us and over which we have some control or interest.  We step aside and say to God---this is now Your purvue; I am no longer "in charge" of this area.  I wait to see how You will resolve this problem.  And we wait in faith, knowing that if we have asked in confidence, He hears us and will not fail to act for the good of all concerned.

When it comes to he things of God, all of us are blind and deaf and dumb.  It is just as imperative that we ask Jesus to open our eyes to see and our ears to hear as it was for those physically impaired while He was on earth.  A person born blind does not know what it is he is not seeing; one born deaf does not know what he is not hearing.  So it is with us; we cannot even guess what it is we do not see or hear in the realm of the spirit.  We think we understand, but we are in the dark. 

Jesus said to the Pharisees, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, 'We see,' so your sin remains (Jn. 9:41).  Pride is thinking we are seeing clearly, whereas humility knows that it understands nothing and asks for sight.

Teresa of Avila said that to know oneself is to know God---but the hardest thing of all for us to see is what lies within our own hearts.  That is the area of our greatest blindness, the area that only God can reveal to us.  Unfortunately, we can see more clearly what is in others' hearts than what is in our own.

About 35 years ago, while in prayer, I had a vision where I was on a cloud overlooking a mountain.  I could see the top of the mountain, and all around it the paths leading to the top.  On those paths, I could see people climbing, but some had wandered off the path and were lost in the deep forest.  "Can I help them?" I asked the Lord, for I could see the path and where they had gone off.  "No," He said; "on the journey, they will come to know their Guide."  Suddenly, I knew that I, too, was at the base of an invisible mountain.  I could not see the mountain, nor any path leading upwards.  I was given to understand that I would not know where I was on the mountain, nor whether I was going up, or down, or backwards, or forwards, or even where I was going.  All I knew was the One Who led me on.

At that moment, I saw in front of me a library table with four small drawers.  I opened the first one and saw what looked like cards inside.  I understood these cards to represent the 10 Commandments.  The next drawer also held cards, which I understood to be the Beatitudes.  The cards in the third drawer represented the secrets of men's hearts, but the fourth drawer was stuck, opening just a couple of inches, but not enough for me to reach inside.  The Lord Himself had to open the drawer for me.  I withdrew a scroll, and I could hardly wait to see what it contained.  When I unrolled it, it appeared blank.  I knew there was something written on it, but I could not see what it was.  The Lord made me understand that from childhood, He had caused me to "read" and understand the Commandments, the Beatitudes, and even the secrets of men's hearts---the one thing I could not read was the secrets of my own heart.  But as I allowed Him to show me what was written therein, the scroll would unfold and lead me to heaven.  I begged Him to show me what was there, and at that time, He gave me the first word: Purity.  I did not understand that word then and am only now beginning to grasp its meaning---35 years later.  About 20 years after that, He showed me the second word, one I am still trying to understand.  But He is directing my understanding, and putting books in my hand that illumine what is in my own heart.

Isaiah 42:19 says this:

You who are deaf, listen,

you who are blind, look and see!

Who is blind but my servant,

or deaf but the messenger I send?

You see many things without taking note;

Your ears are open, but without hearing....

See, I am doing something new!

Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

Once we "see" that we are indeed blind and deaf and dumb, we can ask for sight and insight.  If we fail to perceive that we do not see, we will also fail to see the "new thing" the Lord is doing in us and for us.

To each person the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.  To one is given through the Spirit the expression of wisdom; to another the expression of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit; to another, mighty deeds....But one and the same Spirit produces all of these distributing them individually to each person as he wishes (I Cor. 12: 7-11).

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans turned into wild-west chaos.  Not only were people stranded on overpasses and in the Superdome without food and water, but bandit-gangs were making their way through the floodwaters looting and shooting.  In the midst of the chaos, with local public servants helpless to coordinate relief efforts for lack of communication, General Russel Honore stepped off a helicopter and things immediately began to change. 

Mayor Ray Nagin gave a radio interview on September 3, 2005, calling Honore "a John Wayne dude who can get some stuff done."  In Nagin's words, Honore "came off the doggone chopper, and he started cussing and people started moving."  Operating from a New Orleans street corner, Honore directed the deployment of 1,000 National Guard troops to restore order in the city, but he ordered them to "point their guns down," reminding them they were not in Iraq.

Honore later remarked that his first priority was getting food and water to the people in the convention center.  "If you have ever had 20,000 people come to supper,you know what I'm talking about,"  he said; "if it's easy, it would have been done already."

In the midst of the dark abyss, Honore did what God did at the time of Creation--he gradually began to restore order, harmony, and balance, bringing under control and pushing back the forces of darkness and destruction.  All of his knowledge, his training, his discipline, and of the power with which he had been entrusted had brought him to this moment in his life, and he was the one equal to the task that no one else could undertake.  

To each one a manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.....

In the time of Israel occuping the land of the warring Philistines, God always raised up a "judge" or leader to beat back the forces threatening to destroy his people.   During the captivity of the Jews under the Persian Empire, God raised up Esther "for such a time as this," for the preservation of his people.  What would have happened to the people in the Superdome after Katrina without General Honore is anyone's guess---but he was the man God raised up for the hour of crisis.  In a speech several years later, Honore was to remark that the two greatest days of a person's life were the day he/she was born, and the day he/she discovers why God put him/her on earth.  The Katrina crisis was the day Honore discovered why he had spent in entire life in training for that moment.

In all of our lives, we meet a time of crisis---perhaps not on the scale of Katrina-- but nevertheless threatening our survival as individuals, as families, etc.  Chaos in one form or another threatens to swallow us up.  But God said He would not leave us or abandon us.  Usually, just the right person appears, with the gift we need--a word of encouragement, the gift of wisdom and counsel, the knowledge to heal, or the resources to deliver us from evil. 

To each person, a manifestation is given for the common good.

I am so thankful for the wisdom and knowledge and training of my doctors in the hour of crisis; I am so thankful for the wisdom, knowledge, and training of those who taught me so that I could teach others; I am grateful to the Spirit for "orchestrating" the people in my life who brought me their individual gifts at a time of need. 

If we are willing, we too become one of the people sent by the Spirit with gifts of wisdom, knowledge, understanding, healing, and "mighty deeds."

To each person, a manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

A Prayer

We do not get to choose for ourselves; God chooses for us who will come to see us, who we minister to, who will listen to what we have to say.  Help me, Lord, not to reject or deny those You send.  Let me speak to them "the very words of God," as Peter says (I Pet. 4:11). 

We administer to one another the grace of God in its various forms, according to the gifts we have received.  Give us wisdom and hospitality toward those You send to us. 

Thy Kingdom Come; Thy Grace Abound

A prayer:

Your heart is open, O God, to all who would enter---O Father, forgive me, forgive us, our barriers to the grace you would offer to others.  Let them come, from the highways and byways, to the heart of God.  Let not doctrine, nor denomination, nor "fatal" choices from the past prevent their coming.  You welcome all---the poor, the sorrowing, the ignorant, the "wrong," the sinner, and yes, even the Pharisee who seeks out your love.

We still "argue on the way" over which of us is the greatest---who has the "right" doctrine or belief, who does the greatest deeds, or has the right approach, etc.  But you, O God, simply open Your heart and say, "Come to Me."  Your Spirit teaches us all things if we but draw close enough to you.  We have all sinned and been wrong in different ways.  But You, O God, are truth and kindness and mercy, and whatever darkness resides in us cannot overcome Your light. 

As the sun rises each morning and enters all the corners of the universe, dispelling the darkness, so You, O God, enter into each man's heart, dispelling the darkness therein.  Come, Lord Jesus, light of the world, light of each man, the light of God, and shine in our hearts of darkness and sin.

Humility

Humility is simply recognizing that, when it comes to the things of God, none of us "know our right hands from our left," in the words of Jonah the prophet.  No matter how smart, or how educated, we are, the things of God remain entirely hidden to us on the natural level.  Jesus often told the Apostles, "How slow you are to understand..." 

Jesus told Nicodemus, a leader in Israel, that unless a man be born again of water and the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God.  Many people take this saying to mean that we must be water baptized, but I think there is a much deeper meaning.  Paul said that a man is not a Jew if he is outwardly circumcised, but only if he is circumcised in his heart.  There are many baptized people who have not experienced either the "water of the Word" or the power of the Spirit of God.

In the first letter to the Corinthians, Paul says that the man without the Spirit does not accept the things of God, nor can he.  The Spirit, he says, searches the deep things of God [what is in God's heart] and reveals them to us.  In the second letter, Paul says, "to this day, a veil remains over their [the Jews'] hearts when the Gospel is read.....but we, with unveiled faces are being transformed from glory to glory."

Jesus promised the disciples that they would receive "power" [the Greek word dunomis is the base word for our English "dynamite"] when the Holy Spirit came upon them.  The power, or dynamite, He referred to was the "power" or ability to comprehend the things of God, to overcome the darkness that surrounds us, to demolish strongholds, to build up and to tear down.  No wonder Paul says that men ought to regard us as servants entrusted with the secret things of God.

Humility means recognizing that we must be taught, that the things of God cannot be figured out, but must be revealed to us.  Jesus said that we must receive the kingdom as little children, those who know they do not already know, but who are willing to be taught.  The Holy Spirit is the One who "takes the things of Jesus and gives them to [us]" (Jn. 14).  We know nothing, we understand nothing, until the Spirit Himself begins to reveal to us the secrets of God.

So......that means cultivating a friendship with the Spirit who dwells within us.  Flesh and blood cannot reveal to us the deep things of God, but they must be revealed to us, as they were to Simon Peter.  Knock, seek, ask----and the door will be opened, for it "pleases the Father" to give us both the Spirit and the kingdom. 

Why?

First love; then understanding.

Most of us seek first to know, to understand, to comprehend the things of God before we surrender to Him. Like adolescents, we cry out, "Why?" "Tell me why I can't stay out all night on the beach with my friends!" In our case, like Job, we want to know why the innocent suffer if God is good, why the world does not spin according to the way we believe it should. We cannot believe in a God who would permit the things we see; we cannot accept the unfairness of the Old Testament God or of the Jesus of the New Testament, who allows sinners access to the Father. We don't understand the ways of God, so we do not accept nor surrender to Him.

But Jesus said, "If anyone wants to know whether my teaching is true, let him do what I say and he will know if my words are true." First, we surrender and let go of needing to know/ understand. Then we will know.

Only my friends, those who love me, understand the things I do. Others may think I am crazy or out of touch with reality or not even care about the things I do. But those who "walk with me" understand who I am and what I do. So it is with God. Jesus said, "I [now] call you friends, because a servant does not know what his master is doing." In the Old Testament, God says, "Indeed, the Lord God does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants, the prophets" (Amos 3:7).  The prophets could interpret the signs of the times because they walked with God, loved Him, and understood what He was doing.
 
If we love Him, He will make His ways known to us, and we will understand.

Nourishing the Inner Man

Guard well your heart, for out of it flow all the issues of life (Prov. 4:23)

In the image above, the far outer circle represents the physical, bodily, man--the one we feed daily with food and comfort: heat when it is cold, coolness when we are too hot, etc. 

The "outer" circle represents what the Greeks called the "psyche," the psychological part of our existence--the intellect and the emotions.  We "feed" our intellectual and emotional selves by what we read and think about.  And we know that whatever dominates our thoughts and emotions will also affect the physical man.  In the Book of Philippians, Paul says this:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable---if anything is excellent or praiseworthy---think about such things....And the God of peace will be with you.

Now, we know that whatever "feeds" the physical body, no matter how wonderful, cannot soothe the mind and emotions, giving us rest and peace.  Unfortunately, we can go through a whole pint of Ben and Jerry's and still feel restless and empty.  Ultimately, trying to soothe the psyche with food, sex, and the Riveria will lead us to show up on tv's "The Biggest Loser." 

But even "feeding" the psyche with all sorts of guru self-help advice and counseling does not satisfy the inner man, the part of us the Bible calls the "heart," the "soul," or the "spirit."  We cannot think ourselves to peace; we cannot "mantra" our hearts into joy.  The inner man is satisfied only in relationship with God, sustained only by the "peace that passes all understanding," overflowing with joy that the world cannot offer.

The peace offered by the world, the peace we can attain in the outer circle by learning and trying, depends on everything going right; it is shattered by the abandonment of friends, or by a serious illness, or by sudden poverty.  At one time in my life, I attempted to fill the void with yoga and transcendental meditation and by following the practice of Unitarianism.  What I discovered is that I had to "do" the practice to sustain the "peace."  However, sitting in the yoga position and breathing deeply did not work too well in the midst of a household with three young children who needed food and diaper changes. 

Beyond our psyche lies the "heart," the inner man, the soul.  As we cannot feed the emotions and the mind by feeding the body, neither can we feed the soul by "feeding" the mind and emotions.  St. Augustine put it this way:

Our hearts were made for Thee, O Lord, and they are restless til they rest in Thee.

So how do we then nourish the inner man, the soul?  There is only one way:  Jesus said, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will go in and eat with him, and he with me" (Rev. 3:20).

Opening the door and inviting Jesus into our inner man changes everything.  When He comes in, He begins to eat at our table, and we begin to eat at His.  He gives us His own peace and joy that the world cannot offer us.  As we eat the food He offers us-- the food of assurance that we are eternally and unconditionally loved, the food of assurance that God is with us always, the food of assurance that nothing can ever harm us-- the peace and joy of God's own spirit begins to overflow into our minds, hearts, and bodies.  It is a fountain of life to every part of us.  

In turn, Jesus "takes up all the causes of my life" (Lamentations 3:58).  He pursues the enemy too strong for me; He redeems my life from the pit; He sets my feet on high places and draws me clear so that the enemy cannot rejoice over me.  He begins to direct my thoughts, to soothe my emotions, and to direct my feet into the way of peace.  We just have to stay in contact with Him on a daily basis and allow Him to direct us. 

When Abraham left his country and his people to "go to a land I will show you," he had no idea where he would be going.  But daily he "built an altar" to remain in contact with the living God who was directing him.  He nourished his soul even as he nourished his body on the journey.  To neglect either would mean to die in the wilderness. 

on Prayer and Faith

Reading Adrienne von Speyr's World of Prayer, I realize that I cannot add anything to her insights on prayer and faith:

No one can believe without being in constant contact with God...Prayer reconstitutes the interrupted contact of faith with God.  Indeed, faith is not merely an objective, conceptual content to be accepted and applied to life:  The content of faith lives in* the believer as genuine divine life and makes possible* in him the act and state of faith.  Faith is what man has grasped of God, for in faith God reveals himself and allows himself to be grasped by man.

...faith continually is at work on him and presents new challenges to his intelligence and awareness.  So he must continually come to terms with this faith, or rather with the God who communicates himself to him in faith.  This contact with God that is the sign of an alert faith is called prayer.  It is the exchange, the give and take, between God and man in faith.  It is man's Yes to God in response to God's constant readiness with regard to man....

Man can refuse prayer as he can refuse nourishment.  But as the body dies without food, so the soul perishes without prayer, which brings God's bread to it.  Prayer is....fellowship with God [and God never shuts the door against the one who knocks....God is there at all times to welcome his child.]

* emphasis mine. 

Adrienne von Speyr, who died in 1967, was a mystic, medical doctor, wife, and author of some 70 books on spirituality and theology.  As a mystic, she was privileged to enter into the experience of people who prayed, from the apostles to the current time.  She remarks on the humility of these people who allowed themselves to be seen at prayer.  Her Book of All Saints is the record of those she saw, including great artists like Shakespeare, Hayden, Beethoven, etc., whose work was the fruit of their prayer.

Turning our expectations upside down

The Greeks suspected that the gods lived on the earth to bless those who welcomed them and to curse those who rebuffed them.  The Romans were more superstitious:  they built endless temples for fear of offending one of the gods that may have been overlooked.  The Chinese have thousands of Buddhas, all of whom need to be given due recognition.

In all the history of religions, no one except Jesus has ever portrayed the great and transcendent God as a father running toward His prodigal son with open arms.  No burning candles or incense here to placate an offended godhead; no human sacrifice to plead for favor or food for the next season---a "daddy" who is missing his son and who watches on the roof every day for signs that the son is coming home.  Now, it is not the son who must offer gifts to the offended father in order to be accepted.  It is the father putting a ring on the hand of the sinning son and wrapping a robe around his shoulders.  It is the father sacrificing an animal in celebration of his son's return.  It is the father who is "prodigal"/ wasteful in giving.

Jesus said He came to seek and to save what was lost.  One cannot come to Him without being brought to the Father, Who had been grieving over His lost sons and daughters.  Those who think that candles and incense, or human sacrifice, or animal sacrifice is what God is looking for are sadly mistaken.  He just wants us to come home and live with Him again.

Pentecost--it really did happen!

When a person overnight goes from no interest in reading the Bible to a devouring, all-consuming, can't-get-enough greediness, there must be some explanation.  In my own case, I entered the hospital for a surgery the next morning in June of 1977.  My roommate was a 20-year-old former drug addict who had just had a baby and whose bleeding was uncontrolled.  Hooked up to a lot of machines, she sat with a bible on her lap telling me how good God was.  I compared my own worry and concern over much smaller issues to hers and thought, "There's something wrong with this picture." 

That night, she told me her story, ending with how she and her druggie husband had both been "baptized with the Holy Spirit," and how it had changed both of them almost overnight. Hmm.  The next morning, we both awoke early, and she offered to read some Psalms to me.  As she read, I heard myself saying, "Dinette, I want to be baptized with the Holy Spirit too."  I didn't know where that came from, because I had not thought about it before I heard myself saying it, but when I heard it, my heart jumped---I did want what she had, despite all my previous years of church-going. 

I got out of bed and knelt by her bed.  She put her hand on my head and began to pray---what, I don't know; it wasn't important.  What I experienced was something like liquid love pouring from the top of my head throughout my whole body, and a total peace "that passes all understanding," relaxing every cell of my mind and body. 

Shortly afterwards, the anesthesiologists arrived, announcing the first of many miracles---they would try an epidural for the first time with major surgery, since I historically had reacted to general anesthesia.  I was awake for the whole surgery, able to consult with my doctor about what he was finding, and gently praying the whole time --- for someone I had heard about but who I didn't know.  This was a new experience for me, who had lived in fear and worry up to this time. 

After surgery, I didn't need or want pain medication.  Since I had not had a general anesthesia, I was up and walking around within a day or so, and meeting other patients, telling them about the love of God, as my young roommate had done with me.  "Who is this person?" I wondered, not recognizing my intensely private and fearful self any more.  I reached over to the bedside stand and pulled out the Gideon bible.  Opening to the Acts of the Apostles for some unknown reason, I began reading about Pentecost.  "Eureka! This explains what happened!  I had asked for and received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit!"    Wow!   I could not stop reading the Book of Acts.  This was no longer "The Bible;"  Now it was my story--I wanted to find out what happened next.

Within the next few days in the hospital and then recovering at home, I finished the Acts of the Apostles, went on to read all the letters of Paul and of the Apostles, read Revelation, and than went back to Genesis, and continued reading the bible until I reached the Acts of the Apostles---some think it should have been called The Acts of the Holy Spirit.

I couldn't stop reading; the Book was coming to life for me for the first time in my life.  I was understanding what I read, and I wanted to know more.  "Send someone to teach me," I prayed.  I wanted to learn all I could.  I wanted to go to ministry school.  "I have you in the school of the Holy Spirit," God said to me. 

This, too, was a new thing---God talking to me.  At first, I thought it was my imagination, that I was making it all up.  But He spoke again:  "Did you used to imagine these things?"  I had to admit that my imagination was formerly occupied with fearful possibilities and dangers---things that might happen that weren't so good.  Now, the fear was gone and replaced by peace and joy. 

God did send someone to teach me and a community where I could test and try out all the things I was learning.  Before I knew it, I was involved in and even leading a Charismatic Prayer Group that was meeting weekly at church.  But that's another story.  There was only one explanation for the sudden and completely radical change in my life:  that the "Baptism of the Holy Spirit" was a real event and that it still happens today. 

The Woman at the Well.

If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water (Jn.4:10).

Jesus, "tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well."  We don't usually think of Jesus being tired.  But every now and again, we see glimpses---he is sleeping in the boat; he tells his disciples he has "nowhere to lay his head;" and now we see him resting at the noon hour.  He is homeless for a reason---so many people are also without a home and have nowhere to lay their heads, spiritually.  He thirsts because they are thirsty. 

The woman who comes at noon to fetch water for her household is alone.  The respectable women of the village do not want to be seen talking to the slut; the men cannot afford to speak to her.  She is with a man who is not her husband, but she does not have friends with whom to laugh, relax, be herself.  She knows that God has rejected her, by the laws she has been taught.  In her isolation, she too is thirsty for human companionship, for recognition of her worth, for community.  She needs to be able to extend a hand to those in need without being rebuffed, and she needs neighbors who will knock on her door once in awhile.  She is as tired from her journey as is Jesus from his.

In His weakness and need, He opens a door to all that she needs and wants, even though she is guarded at first---why are you speaking with me?  "Give me a drink," He asks.  He, the Living Water, thirsts for what she can give Him; she thirsts for what only God can give her---a restoration of her life.  In his need, He opens the door for what she needs. 

It is strange that in all of Galilee and in Jerusalem, this woman should be the first to suspect that she is talking with the Messiah.  And "when he comes," she said, "he will explain everything to us."  The laws and rules had shut her out as unworthy; his explanation has re-drawn the boundaries to include her---true worshippers will worship in spirit and in truth.  If she had not been seeking, she, like so many others of the time, would have failed to recognize him.  She was thirsting for everything He came to give, much more than the Scribes and Pharisees were.  And He gave her what she was longing for, spiritually.  She went into the village and told them about her encounter.  They all came out to see the One she had met at the well, "and they believed in him because of the woman's testimony."  They said to her, "...we know that this man really is the Savior of the World."

They are talking to her, forgetting that she was "a fallen woman."  They are sharing their own experiences with her, the outcast, the one who had to come at noon to draw water so that she would not be an embarrassment to the respectable women who came early in the day.  And all because He was tired from the journey and desperately needed a drink of water. 

In His need, in His weakness, He gave us a way to approach the living God, who makes all things new again.  No one could be afraid of a tired man who asks for a cup of water. 

The Master Gardener

...for you are God's workmanship, the field he has planted (I Cor. 3:9)

One reason I bought the home in Mississippi was the beautiful landscape, which had been lovingly designed, planted, and cared for so many years.  After Katrina, however, multiple trees were uprooted, the native ferns underneath disappeared, great hollows were left in the ground, and in the two years before I could get to the garden, weeds higher than my head grew up.  The once-beautiful yard was a tangled mess, with snakes and mice beginning to use the weeds as habitat.  I looked with discouragement on what seemed an impossible and costly challenge to repair.  However, the yard was mine, and I needed to begin somewhere. 

I selected one spot near the fence and began clearing weeds whose roots had grown as strong as tree roots.  A shovel was practically useless; I needed an axe to attack the weeds which had reclaimed their native territory.  As I finally manged to clear a thirty-foot bed close to the fence, I began to think of the cost of re-planting the entire property and once again grew discouraged.  At that point, a neighbor appeared with four huge African Iris plants that she had taken out of her yard.  They could not have been more perfect to fill in the newly-cleared spot along the fence.  They immediately gave me one beautiful vista in a messy yard and lifted my spirits, providing encouragement to tackle the next area.

When Paul tells us that we are God's workmanship, the field He has planted, I think of the discouragement God must feel as He sees the wreckage we bring to His once-beautiful work.   He must weep as He views strongly-rooted weeds, snakes, and mice taking over His property.  In the letter to the Corinthians, Paul tells us that he and Apollos are "God's fellow-workers;"  one plants, and the other waters, but it is God who makes things grow. 

First, with His own Son, He had to buy back / redeem the field that had been ravaged by sin and was being destroyed by the Prince of this World.  Then, through the work of the Holy Spirit, He set to work rooting out weeds and restoring the garden to the order and harmony of His original design.  Now, He watches carefully, through His Spirit, for anything that threatens to harm or destroy His work.  And, at just the right moment, He sends workers into the field, like the neighbor who suddenly appeared with the perfect plants, offering them without cost to me. 

Each morning now, I stroll through the garden I have planted from scratch.  I look at each plant to see whether it looks healthy and happy, or whether it needs attention.  If it droops, I give water; if it needs more sun, I move it; if it is being choked by weeds, I give it space and then add mulch to protect it.  I know each plant by name and characteristics.  I selected each one for the spot it occupies, for my own purposes---and I love the individual and distinct beauty that each one offers.  I mourn each one I fail to save and delight in the health of those that prosper.  Can God, the Master Gardener, do less?

"The Seed is the Word of God" (Lk. 8:11)

Yesterday, I wrote about the Word of God being the Plan of God, the Promise of God, the Power of God, the Provision of God, the Purpose of God, and the Pronouncement, or Judgment of God.

In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus explains to the disciples that "the seed is the Word of God."  The farmer sows his seed, but not every seed finds a place of nourishment: some fall along the path; some fall on rock; some wither for lack of moisture; and some are choked out by thorns. 

This morning, I read in God Calling:

I love to pour My blessings down in rich, in choicest measure.  But like the seed-sowing---the ground must be prepared before the seed is dropped in.  Yours to prepare the soil---Mine to drop the seed-blessing into the prepared soil.  Together we share in, and joy in, the harvest.  Spend more time in soil-preparing.  Prayer fertilizes soil.  There is much to do in preparation.

And I think to myself what a wonderful metaphor of the seed:  it contains within its tiny, almost microscopic, body the plan, the promise, the power, the provision, the purpose, and the pronouncement of what it will become when it falls into good soil and is given sufficient moisture.  Somewhere in Scripture (I cannot remember where), there is a passage about a man planting his field and then the rains come, and the field produces a crop without the man knowing how.  And Proverbs 20: 4 tells us that the sluggard does not plow in season, so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing.

So our job is not to produce the crop---the seed contains everything within itself needed to produce the harvest.  And the seed is the Word of God.  Our job is to plow the soil and to water it with prayer.  The harvest will take care of itself.  Again, the quotation from Sirach 24 is appropriate:

I sought to water my own little garden, and this stream of mine became a rivulet, and the rivulet, a river,

then this stream of mine, a sea.

Thus do I send my teachings forth shining like the dawn,

to become known far off.

God's Plan for us

After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:

"Do not be afraid, Abram.

I am your shield,

your very great reward."

But Abram said, "O Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?"...

The the word of the Lord came to him:  "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir" (Gen. 15).

When the Word of the Lord comes to us, it reveals to us the Plan of God, the Promise of God, the Power of God, the Provision of God, the Purpose of God, and the Pronouncement / Judgment of God.

Isaiah writes that God's ways, His thoughts, and His plans are not our ways, our thoughts, and our plans.  When we first begin the hear the Word of the Lord, it frightens us, because we cannot imagine how such a plan could possibly be carried out.  Mary's first question to the angel when the word of the Lord came to her was, "How shall this be, since I know not man?"  What was beyond the comprehension of both Mary and Abraham was the power and the provision of God to act in our lives.  In the book of Hebrews, Paul tells us that Abraham believed God because he figured God was able to do what He promised. 

Abraham had to learn this lesson by trusting God with his life, his possessions, his family---all that he was and had.  He literally "walked" with God and learned as he went along that God was able to do all that He promised to Abraham. It seemed when Sarah was taken into Pharoah's harem that God was not paying attention or that He was powerless with the Egyptians.  But from this situation, Abraham was able to leave Egypt a man rich in faith as well as in material possessions.  He was able to arrive in the Promised Land not as a "nobody," but as a man of significance.  He was able to purchase property and to dig wells therein for his livestock.  But he also knew as he entered the land of Philistine warriors the Power and the Provision of God to deliver him from danger and to carry out the Plan and the Purpose of God for his life. 

Once we trust God with all that we have and are and set out on the journey, we too will see the power and provision of God to carry out his plans for us.  And His plans for us are good plans:

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jer. 29:11).