Stuffed with God

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Preach the Gospel always, and when necessary use words

          Franciscan saying

 

We are trying to shout the Gospel with our lives

          Sister Margaret

 

Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.

          Jesus (According to John)

____________________________________

 

we are not meant to be observers

we are not meant to stand on the sidelines and shout “Yay Jesus!”

or stand in the midst of this incredible world unmoved and unattached

 

we are not meant to be people who simply believe

and affirm

 

it was not enough for Nicodemus to affirm

even with all of his heart

that Jesus was stuffed with God

(not a bad starting point, but still)

 

no

Nicodemus

you

I

we all must be born from above

 

which is not a casual thing

nor is it safe

 

being born from above is allowing one’s self

to be picked up by the wind

and blown where God wills

 

being born from above is like diving into a raging torrent

and carried by the current of the Spirit

where God wills

 

we cannot huddle and hide from the wind

we cannot merely dip our toes into the water

 

we have to open our arms and allow the wind to pick us up

we have to go all in

 

there is danger here

and powerlessness too

we are at the mercy

 

but Ah!

“The world is charged with the grandeur of God.

It will flame out, like shining from shook foil…” 

And

“    There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;

And though the last lights off the black West went

Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs —

Because the Holy Ghost over the bent

World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.”

(Gerard Manley Hopkins)

 

the Holy Spirit fills us with grandeur

and freshness

newness and life

 

permeating us until we too

are charged with the grandeur of God

and no longer merely watch and wait

but live

fully

 

leaking the Gospel

shouting God’s love with our lives