The Spirit Offered

As we have seen, The All Powerful One appeared as The Vulnerable One -- a baby. A baby cannot do anything for itself. It is the only young, in all creation who has no instinct for survival. So the All Powerful God who was so for His people, is now appearing to His people as powerless. On His journey, He always reached out to the powerless and the outcast. Eventually, He ended up an apparent failure. Crucified. The death of a runaway slave. This broken, bruised, beaten and betrayed body is Emmanuel -- God with us.

The broken, bruised, beaten, betrayed one did not remain so. Through the power of the spirit He became the Risen Christ. The Risen Christ would depart so the same Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the disaster of His death is the same Spirit that will be sent in his stead. The same Spirit who brought order to the initial chaos of the first creation is the One who is to come to bring order to the new creation of a new people, and a new world. A new people, who are the chosen people of the new covenant of grace. We are that people, blessed, broken and given, to continue the mission of the ministry of Jesus Christ. We are called to be co-creators of a more just society. A society that can evolve when we are guided by the Spirit of Justice. We are called to be good stewards of creation in which The Creator God perfectly hidden and perfectly revealed. This challenging job of dignity is ours, yet we do not or ever will face this challenge alone. We will always have this Spirit of Jesus Christ.

As He was - so we are - through the power of the Spirit.

The following is a prayer by Thomas Merton, which I have given to so many people over the years:

Dear God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will
does not mean that I am actually
Doing So.
But, I believe this,
I believe that the desire to please you does
in fact please you.
I hope I have that desire in everything I do.
I hope I never do anything apart
from that desire.
And I know that if I do this
you will lead me by the right road
so I may know nothing about it at the time.
Therefore, I will trust you
ALWAYS.
For though I may seem to be lost,
and in the shadow of death,
I will not be afraid because I know you will never leave me to face my troubles all alone.

How do we make room for this transforming new life-giving Spirit? We need do nothing – except -- let go of what is harmful, what is toxic, what is death-dealing, what is victimizing us. [May I remind you of the great need to write and always burn as has been suggested before.] We must let them ascend as the wounds on the risen body of our Brother Jesus Christ. Let them ascend into Heaven so as to create a space to be filled with a presence of the Holy Spirit, the re-newing, the transforming power of God. Because of this, a new way of life, a new way of living is now opening up right before our very eyes. We are not thinking our way, we are actively cooperating with life-giving spirit to allow God's dream for us to become a reality. "Behold, I make all things new." This Holy Spirit, this power of love in our lives, puts the "get up and go" back in our lives where our get up and go has gone – gone -- gone.

The dreamer’s journey continues…