Spooked for Good
Imagine for a moment that you are not alone.
You think you are alone, that there is no one nearby, no one to interrupt you, to ask you questions, to sit beside you and offer you company and companionship. You are by yourself.
Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye, you catch a glimpse of something moving, only when you turn, there is nothing there. Are you spooked?
"If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you." - John 14:15-17
Imagine what it was like for the disciples to learn that the spirit of God was real and that they were never alone.
Do you think it might have spooked them a bit?
Perhaps they would have been afraid, just as we would if a spirit revealed itself to us when we thought we were alone.
But today's reading is not about being afraid. On the contrary, it is about being secure in knowing there is help available at all times, help from God.
All of us face a time when we lose a loved one, when from that moment on, they are not around for us to call, talk to, be with. It is that realization that hits us hard and makes us mourn.
We may continue to talk to them as we walk through the empty house they once inhabited. We seek out their spirit in the night and welcome their visits in our dreams.
But what if we knew they were still vital and real, still with us, sharing our thoughts, giving us strength, making us smile and laugh at the silliest things. When we live with the real presence of someone we love, we are joyful and lifted up. We believe we can do and survive anything.
This is the gift God has given us with the presence of his spirit in us. It is what the disciples were told and what we believe happens to us when we are baptized.
We receive the Spirit and are forever connected to God.
Knowing that there are people in this world who have never experienced the presence of that spirit, what should we do? Should we seek to show them what we have discovered, that we can have a deeper relationship with God?
Why wouldn't we want others to know the joy of living in the Spirit?
Why wouldn't we want others to be spooked for good?
As we live out the Easter promise of God's eternal presence living in us, we should give some thought to the awesome nature of our relationship with God and we should take time to spend time with Him through the Spirit that dwells in us.
Then we can learn to share that Spirit with others, and let them know what we know, that God loves them and wants to be with them always.
What a joy that would be.
More to come...