22 May 2006

An ongoing look at spirituality by Joseph Sittler in "Gravity and Grace."

In another usage of the word (spirit) Isaiah said, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me" (Isaiah 61:1). The Spirit of God is something I cannot define, much less enclose. We so often think of that Spirit as a generally dispersed and gaseous holy presence. It is simply there. We breathe it in, we breathe it out. There is a sense in which the Spirit of God is simply a wide term for the creative presence of God in everything that God has made.

The Spirit is that breath of life. That is the beginning...as in the beginning. And yet, within that breath, there is intention and design and vision. Even in the opening scenes of the creation scene put together in the first chapter of Genesis, there is this brooding presence that seems to be hovering over all that is not...yet. If it was just a brooding presence nothing would happen. In this case, this presence is what is happening. That is, this Spirit is in place to bring something into being...and as we know from the story, it bring something out of nothing at all. Yes, Spirit is something we cannot quite define like so many things, but it is that to which we can point after it has intentionally moved into space and time and been a part of creating something new...a new movement...a new direction...a new insight into what is possible...a new step along a path that keeps moving through the unending presence of God's Spirit. There is this creative presence and there is more...so much more and so much more specific, that the movement of this Spirit will even appear offensive to some as it reaches in to transform us.

Connection: Sometimes it is within the pause during the day when we literally let ourselves breathe that we are able to re-view what is happening around us and to see where we must go next. That is how close this Spirit of God is to be seen - the possibility that is so much a part of what we will become that we can take hold of it within a breath.

Breathe again upon us, O God, and as your Spirit engages our lives, take us into your ways of hopefulness and new life that always moving us into communion with others and with the whole of creation. Be for us the breath of life that encourages and brings peace. Amen.