Friends

The rush of a violent wind! Tongues of flame! Exceptional events recorded in one account (Acts 2) of the birthing of the Church. No wonder those men and women jumped up and got to work on getting the Word out.

However, there is another account that is gentler rendition of the gift of the Spirit. It comes from John’s Gospel, “Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you. When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

Imagine the movie industry faced with making a production with the intent to make money about the birth of the Church. Which way would they go? More than likely it would be toward the one that is more sensational and offer opportunities for the most special effects. Breathing on someone? Hardly.

Paulos Mar Grergorius is of this opinion: “[The Holy Spirit] operates quietly - sometimes it comes with a mighty roaring wind and thunder and lighting. That is exceptional. Most of the time, it works quietly…”

So which account is the right one? Special effects or the quiet one? Our Western culture doesn’t have much patience with choices. It has to be one or the other so which is it? The answer from a spiritual perspective can be really irritating: both are right.

Both accounts point to a Truth that is indisputable: the message of Jesus and the story about Jesus exploded into the first century with unimaginable power that caught everyone off guard. Some recalled this event as a powerful theophany while others remembered it as tender intimacy.

Paulos Gregorius goes on to say, “In my church, the liturgy every Sunday speaks of the Holy Spirit who brings all things that exist, and all the things which are to exist in the future, to perfection. That is the job of the Spirit: to bring everything to perfection.”

A gentle breath or a rushing wind with a dancing flame are invitations to open yourself to the process of being made whole in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The real question isn’t how the Spirit got into the world, rather, the question facing us is how are we going to respond to the Holy Spirit that is near us even now? We are all works in progress moving towards completion in the perfection of the Holy Spirit.

Joel t