Trinity

Snow on the mountains and fog all around this morning. My coffee tastes better than usual with the gray environment that is comforting and warm (inside.) I've been trying my usual tactics to calm my mind this morning. Music is playing and I've tried concentrating on my painting (which is nearly finishing) but synapses keep firing on the same subject: The Holy Spirit.

I went to the Gloria Dei Lutheran Bible study yesterday morning. It's a study of Lutheran beliefs. We were discussing the Trinity. First things first, someone chimes in saying that she'd never given the Holy Spirit much thought. She, and others, said that it is unknowable and just something that we mention in prayer every Sunday. I was so shaken by this that I swear I was levitating with aggravation. Pastor Adam tried to spark more conversation by quoting C.S. Lewis, etc. He seemed to catch the vibe and asked if this was a rabbit hole that the group felt was too deep to dive into. They said yes and continued on to ask which faiths didn't acknowledge the Trinity ...as though it was appealing to them.

I said how I felt about the Trinity. My feelings don't always come across as I'm trying to state them but basically, I said that I feel that Jesus is our example, God is a force so great that he is difficult to comprehend but the Holy Spirit is personal, a force given to us (within us) that strengthens with prayer (communication ...questions, acknowledging.) It is so personal that the only way I can describe it is as a light on inside. I cannot believe that members of the church, that grew up reading about the Trinity, can just call it rote terminology.

I was frustrated, when I got home. I told Travis all about the conversation. He went straight to the computer. I said, "You aren't going to Wikipedia Holy Spirit are you?!!" He googled it!! We also took out the Bible to cross reference the internet!! Travis just returned home from a week of fire training in Nevada ...I was so happy to have him home and doing his thing when it comes to questions ...finding answers!!

My favorite passage, that Travis directed me to, was Galatians 22 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control: against such there is no law." I thought about two incidences. Months ago, I got upset with a gas station attendant because she wouldn't get off of her a stool and do her job. I left there fuming because I'd gotten so worked up. I knew I was wrong to have been feeling that way ...I knew there was a better way I could have handled the situation. Then, days ago, two cashiers treated me in a short, rude manner. Again, I felt a rush of anger and wanted to say something. Instead, I thought about how terrible I'd felt the day at the gas station. I stepped back mentally. I decided not to make it personal and just see what was going on in the store. I realized that the two women were having a problem with each other. The whole environment felt toxic. I knew that I could easily have escalated the situation by making it personal. Instead, I thought about a lifting of the heavy mood and hoped it would have an effect on their day ...for the better.

When Travis read "self control for which there is no law" I remembered how I had felt at the store. I felt I'd been given something when I stepped back from the situation. I felt I'd been guided each step of that encounter. and I felt like I'd know how to encounter such energy again. I felt the opposite of the day at the gas station.

John 14:25-27 "These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. "

The Holy Spirit is a very personal presence. The more I acknowledge and communicate with this source ...with the Trinity, the stronger I hear the peace Jesus spoke of.