“…the Spirit of
truth…will guide you to all truth.” John 16
Who is this Holy Spirit? We
here in the West have very vague notions of the Holy Spirit. For some of us the
Spirit is an afterthought in the Trinity…a “trailer-child,” or the dove that
hovers over Jesus. But we sell ourselves short. This third Something in the divine Mystery is the actual love-gift of God
given to us. Just as the Father is the Singer, and the Word is the Song, so the
Spirit is the Singing. They are distinct but cannot be separated. Remove one,
and the whole relationship falls apart. And more, this relational wonder is
going on within us.
The Church uses wild and
wonderful images to try to express this in human terms. There are eight
powerful biblical images that refer to the Holy Spirit. The images point to functions, the actual activity of the
Spirit in our lives.
The
most common is the dove. The image
speaks of comfort and peace. Then there is fire,
which cauterizes and consumes. The tongues
indicate that this presence within us will erupt in speech about the wonders of
God. Then there is water, which
washes away and cleanses, in addition to making growth spring up everywhere. Oil softens and makes movement easy and
smooth. It also allows wrestlers to slide out of the grasp of an opponent. Blood is our very life, and such is this
Spirit the eternal life that has been won for us. Wine makes us drunk on God, intoxicated with love that spills out
onto others. The wind-breath is both
power and fragrance, like lilac in the springtime. Put these all together and
we have just a glimpse of the Love-Gift of the Spirit who is our Advocate and
Comforter when life weighs heavy on us, and we are submerged in darkness.
Because this One is the Singing of the Singer’s Song, maybe we all can learn
from this Gift to at least whistle in the dark.
Fire to burn away my resistance
Tongue to give me a voice
Water to wash away my arrogance
Oil to smooth my response
Dove to calm my fear in the dark
Blood to give me life
Wine to intoxicate my soul
Wind-breath to lift me up…
Brand me with the Truth that is my Jesus who has
found a home in me.
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