Holy Spirit: An Oft Misunderstood Mystery

Tim:
Since it’s possible we have offended some with our critical comments, I would like to say that we sincerely appreciate, respect and admire our speakers, even if we are critical. We don’t mean to be insulting, though we realize it can come across that way. For that we apologize. Hopefully, in some ironic way, the fact that we are questioning reflects how serious we are about hearing God’s truth. Given our frequent cynicism, it is only fair that we acknowledge a message that hits us right where we need it.

Thus, I would like to congratulate Laurel on what I thought was an outstanding and much needed message. She spoke to us about the Holy Spirit. She said, and I agree, that the Spirit is probably the most difficult and misunderstood aspect of God for most people to grasp. This is certainly true in my own life, as everything about the Spirit seems kind of mysterious and uncertain. It’s not talked about enough. She touched on some things that I really appreciated, though I have a couple of questions.

First, she mentioned that many of us have lost touch with the fact that the Spirit is really alive and moving. I wholeheartedly agree, and have long pondered the sense I get in this part of the world that the Holy Spirit is only some sort of quasi-member of the Trinity. The whole concept of spirits is, I think, difficult for many people. She reminded us that he is equal with the other two parts of the Trinity, which I often subconsciously fail to think about.

Second, she mentioned John 14, which I have been mulling over recently, myself. Something about the Spirit in this passage just reaches out and grabs me. But who is this mysterious character who is supposed to guide, comfort, and counsel us? What exactly do we mean by “Spirit?” She touched on this, but I still failed to understand. I have never really been certain how to think of the very concept of “spirit.” Not physical, yet real and present. The harder I think the less I can wrap my mind around it. All I know is that it’s real. I really wish I understood better.

That brings me to my questions. Laurel described the Spirit as being “a person.” I’m not entirely clear on what she meant by “person.” I’m assuming she meant something along the lines of “a real, living entity, like any of us.” I guess I just leave still unsure how to think about the Spirit, not because I don’t have ways to describe him, but because so many of the concepts surrounding don’t easily fit together in my mental framework.

The other question I have concerns discernment. She mentioned a couple things that related to this. First, she said that the Spirit reveals the heart of God. I absolutely agree. Along with that, she mentioned that “with the Spirit, there is no scripture you can’t understand.” How, then, do we discern what is from the Spirit when two Christians, presumably both with the Spirit, understand the same scripture in opposite ways? Does that mean it hasn’t fully been revealed it to either of them? Does it mean that it has more than one possible interpretation? What are the implications of that? I think there are no certain answers to such questions, but they are important for us to ask.

She also said that many people ask how we can know He’s working in us. I often do, as well. We tend to sit around waiting for some “feeling” to come over us. But he is above our feelings. I agree, but for me, it can be hard to discern between the guidance of the Spirit and my own feelings. I really liked the last thing she mentioned: we can see him in lives and that through sharing our testimonies with one another, something I’m in favor of.

Thank you, Laurel, for speaking on something so few of us really understand, and for not shying away from the tough questions.

Peter:
After chapel I spoke to a friend about what he thought about chapel, and he mentioned that he was appreciative of the multiple ‘avenues’ of worship offered. Which I have to say I identified with. I am not a singing kind of person, but I am a listening type of person, and the strings and piano at the beginning of chapel was, for me, one of the best worship sessions that have been in chapel. That also caste a new light on the interpretive dancer they had on stage. I think interpretive dancing is weird, simply put. It makes me uncomfortable, and I don’t understand it. But I guess if I prefer to worship in listening to God’s beauty rather than singing, others can through watching… I just feel very uncomfortable with interpretive dance. It’s weird.

Chapel today was about the Holy Spirit, the final third of the trinity. Laurel mentioned, correctly I believe, that the Holy Spirit is the least-understood of the three parts of the trinity. It is the part I understand the least, but that’s in accordance with humans as well. It’s easy to understand somebody’s mind and person, but their spirit is hard to discern, and it’s easily veiled, and even easier to misinterpret. So too God’s spirit is difficult to understand. But I think Laurel brought up some good topics. Three in particular which stuck out to me: the manifestation of the spirit, the role of the spirit, and the effects of the spirit.

Probably the most appreciated point made was that of the manifestation of the spirit. She mentioned that the spirit is often misinterpreted as merely something that makes people go nuts and start talking in tongues, screaming and rolling around on the floor. She then went on to say that’s only one small way it, sorry, ‘he’ as she specifically made a point about, works in people. She said that when we have the spirit in us it shows. And hallelujah, amen, she made the point of the fruits of the spirit. As my friend mentioned after chapel, typically the fruits of the spirit are thought of as spiritual disciplines, things we strive for to become ‘better Christians,’ and he went on to say that it was refreshingly refreshing to view the fruits of the spirit as just that, the results of the spirit in somebody’s life.

A second thing mentioned was the nature of the spirit, or role of the spirit. Specifically she mentioned that the spirit is not a feeling, ‘he’ is not going to manipulate your emotions, but rather reveal truth. I don’t know whether or not that is the primary role of the spirit—revealing truth, but I have to say, I don’t believe God manipulates emotions, or changes feelings. I believe God is Love, take it or leave it.

Lastly, I again was frustrated at the blatant disregard for the good of this world. At the end of her talk, which was an excellent one, Laurel mentioned that when we get the Holy Spirit in our lives this world matters much less, that when dealing with the Spirit ‘he’ illuminates the power beyond ourselves which belittles our world. The Holy Spirit does nothing of the kind. If anything, the Spirit, and God make this world more significant than ever. I know she referenced pain and struggle frequently and how the Spirit relates to alleviating those, but pain and suffering aren’t what this world is about, and it’s frustrating for me to keep hearing that it is. The way I can explain it best is to let somebody else explain it:

“Ye can call it the Valley of the Shadow of Life. And yet to those who stay here it will have been Heaven from the first. And ye can call those sad streets in the town yonder the Valley of the Shadow of Death: but to those who remain there they will have been Hell even from the beginning.” (67)

This quotation is from CS Lewis’ book The Great Divorce. I would apply this passage to our world, in that those who are saved see heaven from the first; they see God’s good in this world. And to be honest I think Laurel, despite what she said at the end of her talk would agree with me. It seems obvious to me that Laurel has a great joy and love for this world and its inhabitants, as God’s creation. I just wish the pain and suffering wouldn’t always define our world. It’s merely the broken part of a good, God-breathed creation.