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So it has been with my understanding of spirit. Spirit is the interface between the Uncreated and the created, God and the world. Spirit is the love between the lover and the beloved. Spirit is energy that enlivens and animates all that is.
There was a time when I thought that spirit was the possession of a few—the initiates, the chosen. An exclusivity is common in all religions. The "haves" and the "have nots." It occurs in lots of ways: we have the truth, you have not. We have the scriptures, you have not. We have the correct rituals, you have not. One of the Christian tellings is "we have the spirit, you have not."
Thinking about this Day of Pentecost—when Christians celebrate "the coming of the Spirit"—I realize that my view is now very different. During the week or so from Ascension day to Pentecost the readings in our Way of Living focus on scriptural passages relating to the spirit. This year I was struck more than ever just how expansive and non-exclusive the early Christian understanding of spirit was.
The Jewish prophet Joel spoke of a day when God would "pour my spirit on all flesh." The early Christians said the day had come in Jesus—the Christ event. God had truly poured the spirit on all flesh. Not just a bit of flesh, but all flesh. Not just Jewish, or Christian flesh, but all flesh. Not just believing flesh, but non-believing flesh too. The Spirit of God is in all, if we have eyes to see.
St. Paul said "to each is given the manifestation of the spirit for the common good." The common good is an important and often overlooked idea. The common good is unfashionable in our culture, where we have moved increasingly toward a radical individualism. Spirituality, too, has often been reduced to my personal and private odyssey, my own way to feel good. St. Paul saw that spirit is the engine of service. Spirit enlivens me to care for you.
Spirit is also our deepest longing. I am suspicious of prayers that seem to know more than God knows: prayers that inform God and tell God what God ought to do. Better to admit that we don't know how to pray as we ought. Better to be silent and allow the "sighs too deep for words" to emerge from our deepest part, from the spirit, the place deeper than knowledge.
The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We might call this "fruit" the character traits of the spiritual person. What does a spiritual person look like? She is a generous person. He is gentle. She is kind. He has a deep joy. She is self-controlled. Turning this around, when you meet someone who is faithful you meet a spiritual person. When you see gentleness in your friend, there you see her spirituality. This fruit of the spirit is no respecter of religion or no religion, it is not based in beliefs of one kind or another, this fruit knows no creed or dogma, it is not based in race, or nationality, or culture, or sexual preference. The fruit of the spirit is expansive as "all flesh."
"God is spirit, and where the spirit of God is, there is freedom." Perhaps, ultimately, spirit loosens the bonds that keep us locked up. Spirit is on the side of freedom. Wherever there is movement toward freedom, there is spirit.
+Ab. Andy
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