The Wild Goose is Loose
Growing up there were parts of the Christian faith that left me feeling confused. One such thing was the Trinity, but more specifically the Holy Spirit.
God the Father? Okay yeah sorta. Jesus? Sure, of course! Holy Spirit? ummmmm.... #crickets
But the Holy Spirit left me just feeling confused, like it was some mysterious entity I never could fully "get." Scripture talks a lot about the Spirit, but the symbols of fire, wind, and dove sometimes are not terribly enlightening for the curious mind of a ten year old child.
As I have gotten older, I have grown past those mysterious symbols to really understand the Holy Spirit as a person moving, working, and involved in my life more than I realized.
For the ancient Celts, the wild goose was a term used to explain the Holy Spirit. That image illustrates the point that there is a wildness to the Holy Spirit, you cannot control it. And while sweet, cute images of a dove or wind are images of the Spirit, its much more than that. There is a crazy, beautiful, raging wildness to the Spirit. We cannot control how the Spirit moves or works.
Sure you've likely heard something about the Holy Spirit in church, but for many the experience of God's Spirit working in them is a foreign concept.
In a little over a week is the feast of Pentecost. Since Easter, I have been watching this AWESOME video series that comes to my e-mail, The Wild Goose. It is a journey for Christians to consider a deeper, richer relationship with the Holy Spirit. It calls people to see and understand the power of God in our lives. And for me, it has helped me better understand what it looks like to have a relationship with the third person of the Trinity.
At the core of the series is a deeper journey into the heart of God. And that is what the Spirit is all about, leading us to a deeper experience of the love of God.
The series is 14 videos long and you can have them sent to your e-mail.
If you're ready to move past cuddly doves and tongues of fire, I'd encourage you to check out this series.
It is very worth it.
Come Holy Spirit.
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Really looking forward to checking out that series, sounds wonderful! Thanks for the tip!
ReplyDeleteIt really is!! Hope you enjoy :)
DeleteI hear what your saying...I know how fathers and sons work. I'm not sure I understand the tongues of fire/dove thing. The Holy Spirit is harder to get. ...I signed up for the series, even though the title sounds more like the name of a microbrewery than a spiritual series. :)
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of the image of a goose being used for the Holy Spirit, but I think that is so cool!!!!! Thanks for the link to the series!
ReplyDelete