The Second Page

An ocean separates me from my son. And sometimes I want to communicate more to him than I can by phone, so I’m writing a letter to my son. I’m filling him in, telling him anecdotes about daily life. But what I really want to share are my thoughts. I want to talk to him about my meditations on the Holy Spirit, the power of God. And so, after completing the first page where I spoke to him of family news and all that I have been doing, I start the second page.

Dear Andrew,

In Genesis I see the first mention of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. The earth at that time was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths. I see this connection with the Spirit of God and water, and my mind is drawn to when Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, he should come to Me and drink! The one who believes in Me, as the scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him” (John 7:37,38). This living water is the Holy Spirit. I believe this is the same living water that we see, sparkling like crystal, flowing from the throne of God in the last chapter of the Bible.

I also see a reference to the Holy Spirit in Genesis when we are introduced to the breath of God. After God spoke all things into being the Bible says that "the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7).  When Jesus appeared to His disciples after His resurrection it says that He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). I think the Holy Spirit is not only found in the form of breath, but also by the violent rushing wind from heaven on the day of Pentecost.

On the day of Pentecost there was not only wind there was fire. In 2 Samuel 22:9 you find the breath of God is also a consuming fire. Hebrews 12 tells us that the voice of  God is able to shake both heaven and earth, and that our God is a consuming fire. It was in the second chapter of Acts that the Holy Spirit came in the form of tongues like flames of fire and those on whom these tongues rested were never the same.

You know, Andrew, the picture of Jesus crying out, “If anyone is thirsty let him come to me and drink,” is very special to me. It’s what I saw when I woke up in recovery after my brain surgery. And then there is the powerful and intimate picture of the Spirit in both Jesus breathing on His disciples and as a violent rushing wind that shakes a building. Finally, I see the Spirit as a consuming fire.

So what does your mother do with these thoughts? I enter into each day fully embraced and fully surrendered to this mystery.

Love,
Mom