Search This Blog

Monday 18 September 2017

"In the Spirit... the Spirit Is Life."

I ask for the grace to know and be nourished by Christ's presence.  I ask for the grace to let go of ego, "worldly things," and to embrace truth, "divine things." 


Romans 8:9-11
9 But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.


1) "...you are not in the flesh;" "...you are in the Spirit;" "...the Spirit of God dwells in you;" "...the Spirit is life;" "...will give life to your mortal bodies;" "...through his Spirit that dwells in you;" "...dwells in you;"


2) Really?  I feel very much in the flesh.  I'm short tempered with drivers who cut me off when I'm jogging on the sidewalk; I'm angry at the woman with her dog off leash in a park that isn't "off leash" when she knows her dog triggers when it sees ball caps... good chance of seeing a ball cap in a ball park, even in the morning; I'm deeply frustrated with meetings that get cancelled again and again and again and the work never gets done; I'm overwhelmed with furnishings from the balcony in my living room because its taking over a month for work to be done outside on the condo; I'm utterly overwhelmed trying to get my cat to take her medication... that's a daily wrestling match that constantly breaks my heart... though I have to admit, it's not as bad as it has been.  so I'm feeling very much in the flesh.  And that breaks my heart too.  Is Paul asking us to deny our experience?  Is Paul simply asking us to trust our faith?  I do trust that my experience of the Spirit can be separated from the experience of my circumstances.  My circumstances do not have to determine my responses.  I feel the crashing of the storms, but I don't have to panic, or react.  I feel sadness, but can I respond with hope?


3) To live from the spirit, not from the "flesh."  To let my trust and hope in the spirit guide my actions, even if my inward self is experiencing turmoil and feels justified to throw a fit.


"Holy One, let me live and act out of peace, even if I'm not feeling it in the moment.  Let me trust that peace will return."


Breathprayer: "in the Spirit... the Spirit is life."



No comments:

Post a Comment