By Ken Woodley
“Jesus said to his disciples, ‘When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf.’”
—The Gospel of John
Trying to catch the Holy Spirit for even a moment would be like attempting to wrap the wind around a fork as if it were spaghetti.
No chance of that happening.
Thank God for that.
Can you imagine what might go wrong in the world if the Holy Spirit could be tracked down, domesticated and kept on a leash?
Look what happened after we split the atom.
Celtic Christians accurately described the Holy Spirit as the “Wild Goose” because it cannot be predicted and will not be tamed. It comes and goes as it pleases, plotting its own course in our lives.
Just when we think we’ll never feel it so close again, the Holy Spirit knocks on our soul’s front door.
The Holy Spirit most often comes to us in brief inspirational flashes, sudden, deep intuitive understandings. The Holy Spirit zips us a “tweet” or a “text” out of the blue.
The difference, however, is that, where so much of social media is inherently too abbreviated to be truly meaningful, the Holy Spirit’s “tweets” and “posts” are deeper than the sky.
And they invite us to go further still with the insights and understandings they provide.
It can be like someone raising the shade in a darkened room. The shade had been only slightly raised previously, letting in just a glimmer of light. Now the room—our inner self—is filled with illumination.
The Holy Spirit’s messages guide us on our spiritual journey, showing which way to turn when we arrive at a crossroads and pray for direction.
And even when we don’t pray for guidance the Holy Spirit is fully capable of picking the lock of our closed door if we refuse to answer its knocking.
This “Wild Goose” is not constrained or restricted by any flight pattern. The “Wild Goose” doesn’t join flocks of geese in the sky. Instead, it cares for each sheep and every single lamb in the Good Shepherd’s flock.
Loving and caring for you and I.
Loving all men and women all over the world unconditionally.
All men and women.
Whether we accept and share that love is up to us.
The Holy Spirit’s “voice” can make seemingly trivial and mundane things take on great meaning: a passing car with a message license plate that speaks like a direct answer to prayer. God-incidence, not coincidence.
The Holy Spirit is able to use anything and everything to communicate with us. It might be an otherwise completely inexplicable occurrence or experience.
If we are watching, if we listen.
The clearest sign that we have received and understood a message from the Holy Spirit will be a deep sense of inner peace, as if every blustering gust of wind has been calmed inside us.
None of us can fly on our own but, if we follow its “nudge,” the “Wild Goose” will give us its wings—even if just for a moment—when we need it most, and in the way we most need it: a flight to our soul’s next understanding of how much God loves us.
Just as Jesus promised.
Just as he promised us all.
A promise big enough to wrap the world in peace and love if we’d only get out of the way.
By Ken Woodley“Jesus said to his disciples, ‘When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf.’”
—The Gospel of John
Trying to catch the Holy Spirit for even a moment would be like attempting to wrap the wind around a fork as if it were spaghetti.
No chance of that happening.
Thank God for that.
Can you imagine what might go wrong in the world if the Holy Spirit could be tracked down, domesticated and kept on a leash?
Look what happened after we split the atom.
Celtic Christians accurately described the Holy Spirit as the “Wild Goose” because it cannot be predicted and will not be tamed. It comes and goes as it pleases, plotting its own course in our lives.
Just when we think we’ll never feel it so close again, the Holy Spirit knocks on our soul’s front door.
The Holy Spirit most often comes to us in brief inspirational flashes, sudden, deep intuitive understandings. The Holy Spirit zips us a “tweet” or a “text” out of the blue.
The difference, however, is that, where so much of social media is inherently too abbreviated to be truly meaningful, the Holy Spirit’s “tweets” and “posts” are deeper than the sky.
And they invite us to go further still with the insights and understandings they provide.
It can be like someone raising the shade in a darkened room. The shade had been only slightly raised previously, letting in just a glimmer of light. Now the room—our inner self—is filled with illumination.
The Holy Spirit’s messages guide us on our spiritual journey, showing which way to turn when we arrive at a crossroads and pray for direction.
And even when we don’t pray for guidance the Holy Spirit is fully capable of picking the lock of our closed door if we refuse to answer its knocking.
This “Wild Goose” is not constrained or restricted by any flight pattern. The “Wild Goose” doesn’t join flocks of geese in the sky. Instead, it cares for each sheep and every single lamb in the Good Shepherd’s flock.
Loving and caring for you and I.
Loving all men and women all over the world unconditionally.
All men and women.
Whether we accept and share that love is up to us.
The Holy Spirit’s “voice” can make seemingly trivial and mundane things take on great meaning: a passing car with a message license plate that speaks like a direct answer to prayer. God-incidence, not coincidence.
The Holy Spirit is able to use anything and everything to communicate with us. It might be an otherwise completely inexplicable occurrence or experience.
If we are watching, if we listen.
The clearest sign that we have received and understood a message from the Holy Spirit will be a deep sense of inner peace, as if every blustering gust of wind has been calmed inside us.
None of us can fly on our own but, if we follow its “nudge,” the “Wild Goose” will give us its wings—even if just for a moment—when we need it most, and in the way we most need it: a flight to our soul’s next understanding of how much God loves us.
Just as Jesus promised.
Just as he promised us all.
A promise big enough to wrap the world in peace and love if we’d only get out of the way.
Ken Woodley 