“Come Holy Spirit, and fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created, and, you shall renew the face of the earth.”
We have journeyed through our desert experience, accompanied, strengthened and guided by the Good Shepherd. We again, on a new and deeper level, participated in the Paschal death of Christ. This ever deepening participation, has led to a new understanding of what Resurrection really means. This leads us to grow in hope. This vital hope, provides encouragement and vitality as we encounter the many faces of death, on this life's journey. We are then lead to accept, not like, that ever so painful process of letting go. Letting go of what? Letting go of the old, the familiar. (The real meaning of the Ascension.) In this letting go a space, a place is created into which we now welcome the Holy Spirit. This Holy Spirit is the loving creative force of God, that is being welcomed into our lives. It is The Power that heals, transfigures, and transforms. It is the gentle love of God, can there be any other? This love has been described as a cooling zephyr, renewing and strengthening us, for the continuation of the journey. It is a peaceful, calming love in which we can find our rest and healing. The only catch is we have to allow it to happen to us. We have to surrender ourselves into that space, into that place where our God has chosen to make His dwelling place. To our horror, and disbelief, we are led to accept this wonderful mystery, the place of our previous discomfort, is now the place we find our comfort and peace. God's ways sure do not make any sense, do they? All this happens how? When we allow it to happen. Yes there is no mistake here.
This is how much God loves us, we are able, because of free will, to say yes, or no, to His gift. We have to make the choice between being a human doer, or a human being. A very difficult one to make. One will feed the ego and the result in looking good on the outside, while all the while feeling alone and isolated on the inside. We on the other hand, becoming a human being, we have to deny the ego, if you so dare. We are then led to a place of peace which is beyond our hopes, and dreams. In doing this, we are led to a place, where we are given a peace, which the world of the ego cannot give. That place of rest seems to me to be created only after some great trial, or upheaval. It appears only when we have endured the battle with the pain of loss, alienation, discouragement, isolation, failure etc. We are lead to the acceptance, we are beloved of our God, not, and I repeat not, because of what we do, but because of who we are in His love, and in His eyes. As we rest in that place of comfort and hope we will be able to live life, and not just endure a lifeless existence.
We are to remind ourselves again and again, because we fail and fall again and again, of the welcoming words of Jesus The Christ "come to me all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you", another translation says "and I will give you rest. He does not say I will FIX you". Anyone who comes to me, him I will not reject" are other words we seem to forget. It is up each one of us to respond to the personal, particular call of the Good Shepherd so he can lead us to safe and green pastures, where we can rest our weary bones. As we are nourished in the place we are led to, we find there healing, transfiguration, and transformation. We discover a new life, never knowing when the old one ceased to exist. By the way, how it happened and when it happened, IS, none of our business. That is the egos need, that is the false self looking for some fodder to boost itself. In the pasture we are led to, we will experience a sense of renewal. A new sense of vitality bubbles up within us. This will be in proportion to the above mentioned participation in the paschal mystery. It appears, the greater the wound, the greater the gift. What great consolation there is in that.
“Send forth your spirit and renew the face of the earth.” That is what is always happening to both you and I. We are constantly being made new, through the power of The Spirit of Love. This new "creating" is always done quietly and above all, gently. So much of the creative work is done in the dark, I guess we can say, The Holy Spirit, is the shyness of God, revealed. The gentleness is revealed in the gifts of love, peace , joy, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control, so to end up. Looking at your life right now, what is the gift you really want from this previous list, which will allow you to live, and not just exist? Take that request into the shower with you, and follow the directions from 'The Shower of Shalom' blog on 4/11/10. In this way, you are asking for the Spirit to bestow on you what is your need right now. In other words, we are asking for our daily bread. The bread of yesterday will not energize us today. We need the bread of today for the challenges that we will face us today. The Spirit of the Good Shepherd is always, and always will be there for you and I. The creative power of God takes what is ours, compensates for what is missing, and quietly and gently weaves it back into the pattern of our lives, and we have not missed a step. All we can say is “by the power of God's love this has been done for me. Not because I am good, but because God is Good. I did not earn this gift, I do not deserve this gift, what I must do Is allow myself to enjoy this particular, and personal manifestation of love of my God for me."
No comments:
Post a Comment