Casting Fire upon the Earth

I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and what would I but that it be kindled...

And what is this fire that Jesus speaks of but the self-bestowal of the Trinitarian God upon mankind?  Karl Rahner, the Catholic theologian of the 20th century, says that the entire aim of his theology, that is, his life's work, was to bring people to the point of experiencing God Himself.  Shouldn't that be the entire aim of all religion---to know the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit dwelling within ourselves?

I have been watching the PBS special on God in America, and I am amazed to find over and over again God "breaking out" of the staid church rules and regulations in order to visit the common folk.  The Scribes and Pharisees of Jesus' time are evidently still with us in every generation, as the church (any church) becomes rigid and stifled.  But God is not contained---there seems to be a new Pentecost in every generation, much like the prophecy in the Book of Joel:

Then afterward, I will pour out my spirit upon all mankind.

Your sons and daughters shall prophesy,

your old men shall dream dreams,

your young men shall see visions;

Even upon the servants and the handmaids,

in those days, I will pour out my spirit (Joel 3:1-2).

To watch the history of religion in America is to watch God at work in the ordinary people, even while the church leaders are befuddled as to what is happening.  Our best hope is to catch some of that action and to watch what God is doing among His people.