Category: Holy Spirit

Overwhelmed?

A recurring word these days: overwhelmed. Medical workers, first responders, long term care personnel together with residents and their loved ones, parents working at home and home schooling, people with no work, or no home–well, pretty much everyone is overwhelmed.

Along with the expression of being overwhelmed, we sometimes hear, “God won’t give you more than you can bear.”

Sure, you might say.

The saying seems to be a paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 10:13, which actually has to do with not being overcome by temptation. The “way out” referred to has to do with the power of community support.

The connection to our setting may be that the support for the Corinthians rests in a community of believers even across time. So why not also across space? Finding help in this depends on a power to connect beyond what we consider normal. 

Whatever, or whoever, you attribute it to, you and others are finding ever new means and resources for being together while physically apart.

I have just used that word: normal. There has been lots of talk about a new normal. We should not sell ourselves short on our capacity to alter our inclinations, in order to find a new normal a positive reality, however natural we would consider our present inclinations. Inside the human skull is a universe of possibility. We just have to tap into it.

Add together (1) a power to connect us–some of us would consider this spirit to be divine in origin, character and being, together with (2) a conscious suspension of clinging to what we consider normal, and we are well on the way not to be overwhelmed. We are, beyond that, setting ourselves up to flourish.

Nothing will replace the warmth of physical nearness  for comfort and encouragement. But we have mind and spirit that make possible infinitely more possibilities. 

Passionate Messengers

Much has been mentioned today about the role of Twitter in the horror in Nairobi over the last few days. Right now our main concern is prayer for those directly affected by this horror. We would also pray, as instructed (Matthew 6:13) for deliverance from evil, over which we have no power of our own. We can only limit its manifestations. That being said, there will be in time maybe some advantage in reflecting a bit on some the reporting that has been made today through various sites and networks about the role of social media, specifically Twitter, through all this.

Specifically, it seems to be observed that those working the side of evil were better at using communication tools than the authorities. The bad guys seem to be acknowledged has having been more persistent, inventive, and actually more accurate about events as they were happening. I think we want to remember, however, that the terrorists knew what was going to happen because they planned it, and could plan the communication aspect of it as well, whereas the authorities had no time to plan the communications about something they did not know was going to happen. Also, authorities and institutions seem by nature to be more measured, cautious, and, often, slow to ackknowledgge realities.

I am compelled to see a parallel with how powerful commercial forces communicate in the world and how the church communicates. There are forces that create “needs” in us and are poised to fulfill those instilled needs. The communication is persistent,, nimble and inventive. We in the church communicate like authorities and institutions: with little of what we would call passion, which would bring persistence, nimbleness and inventiveness. OK, there is a huge difference in monetary resources. But there is also a huge difference in energy and creativity available – in our favour – through the Holy Spirit. The real difference is in passion. Where is ours?