Last weekend we celebrated Pentecost Sunday. The past six weeks of Easter have gone by so quickly. What is the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is the greatest energy or presence in our world. It is alive, active, creative and prompting us always to God’s special presence in our world. As soon as a yacht lifts up its sails to catch a breeze it becomes alive and moves through water full with purpose, energy and delight. If the sail is taken down and put away the yacht is almost lifeless and just drifts along. With regard to the Holy Spirit we have sometimes forgotten to put up our sails to catch and harness a unique presence in our world today.



The presence of the Holy Spirit reaches all aspects of our lives. From a faith point of view we are assured that God is with us through every journey, through the difficult twists and turns, through the good times and those straight runs but also with us when the unexpected crisis or tumble happens. When we do hit those difficult times we often have nothing to fall back on and that is why the famous spiritual writer Henri Nouwen calls it a spiritual crisis. In the generations past many had their faith to fall back on when life became difficult. Having a belief in something spiritual, gave a foundation or a solid grounding when there was a crisis. It wasn’t about having all the answers but it allowed one to put the crisis in an overall context and that the crisis would pass. Today this solid foundation is no longer present or as widespread as it once was.

Whatever our own personal spiritual beliefs may be, we know that they have great value. Too often we compare ourselves to others and feel we fall well short. We are encouraged to nurture and celebrate everything spiritual in our own lives. This is at the heart of Pentecost Sunday. Life as we know can be wonderful and great but also so fragile. When the unexpected fall or crisis happens, it is good to have something to hold onto. We pray that the energy and spirit of God will be our compass, our anchor, our shield, our inspiration, our hope, our strength, our foundation and to continue making a unique difference in our lives each day.