We Plan, God Laughs!
With our first child almost two years old, my wife and I felt it was time to start trying to have a second child. We were blessed with the positive home pregnancy test in March of 2003. I have to admit that we felt like this was old hat. At least I did. A few weeks later we went to the obstetrician for the first doctor's visit.
Everything was pretty straight forward until we got to the ultrasound part of the exam. Katie and I stared at the small black and white screen while the doctor manipulated the wand. I had no idea what I was looking at. Then, the doctor said, "It looks like we have two!" She pointed to two, tiny flashing lights. They looked like blinking cursors on a computer screen. "Looks like two, healthy heartbeats." Katie always wanted to have twins, and I was excited too. The doctor half-jokingly said "Let me just make sure there isn't another one in there somewhere."
She had just finished saying that when I saw another tiny cursor blinking on the screen. I asked, "Is that what I think it is?" The doctor nodded. Triplets. The rest of the exam is a blur. Katie and I stumbled out of that office, trying to process how our lives were about to totally change.
Today's feast calls us to ponder the mystery of the Holy Trinity. Today's readings are a window into that mystery. All three of them place an emphasis on the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. It is referred to as the 'wisdom of God,' and the 'spirit of truth'. We are told that it was with God at the 'beginning of His ways.' It 'finds delight in the human race.' It pours the Love of God into our hearts. It is the Spirit that empowers us to live out our Christian mission. Jesus may have shown us the way to the Father, but we don't have a chance of getting there without the Spirit. Jesus tells us to love our enemies; the Spirit gives us the compassion to forgive those who have hurt us. Jesus tells us to care for the poor; the Spirit gives us the courage to approach that person on the street and give them something to eat. In today's readings, we hear that God is with us always and forever!
But do we recognize God in our lives? Sure, you and I recognize Him in the Eucharist, we see Him in the readings from the Scriptures. But what about outside of church? How do we recognize the Holy Spirit helping us in our daily lives? We know from last week's readings that the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles like tongues of flame. Can you see that flame in your own life?
It is there. I promise you. Christ promises you. We just heard Jesus tell us that the Spirit will 'guide us to all truth.' But we have to look for it. Just as that third baby was hiding at first glance, the Spirit of God sometimes is tough to see. If we open our hearts and minds to the presence of the Spirit, wonderful things happen. We do things we could never do on our own. We say things we could never say on our own. We love people we could never love on our own! When we see the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we allow God to work through us, with us, and in us!
Find time to pray every day. Each of us can block out fifteen minutes to sit in silence and open our hearts so that the Spirit can fill it with the love of God. Let God delight in watching the Spirit guide you. Great things will come from it. Keep your eyes, hearts and minds peeled for that third little blinking light. Believe me, three is never easy, never boring, and certainly never clean! But now that I have experienced it, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world!
No comments:
Post a Comment