9 ’So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 10For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 11Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? 12Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? 13If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’
Luke 11 (pasted from Oremus Daily Lectionary)
This piece is a warm up to the piece Gordon RLP CCblogs has requested. Whether snake or scorpion or Holy Spirit, others may decide.
I’ve been distracted
Recently I’ve enjoyed streaming video. Through a $9/mo membership Netflix offers unlimited streaming videos.
I’ve watched The Song of Bernadette twice, the story of Lourdes. The Gospel of John, in the entire Good News version, dramatized. In Italian The Gospel of Matthew and St. Anthony of Padua.
Through normal rentals I’ve seen a bio of Patrick of Ireland and two films about Karol Wotyla, John Paul II.
Don’t get me wrong. I’ve also enjoyed a lot of film noir from the 40s, sappy Shirley Temple flicks, Les Miserables with Liam Neeson. The technology fascinates me.
Saints’ bios make me wonder
But there’s a whisper: am I 110% sold out to Christ like Patrick or Anthony or Wotyla?
No chance of being in their league, but surely average Christians can be just as committed.
How does the Spirit make her/his mark on me? What are the evidences of my commitment?
One of my favorite saints is Joseph Schereschewski, Episcopal missionary in China, who spent the last 20 years of his life completing a Chinese dictionary. Nothing unusual about that, right?
Except he had Parkinson’s, and could use only one finger.
Or William Cowper, who died insane. His last bout of depression never lifted. But his collected works of many standard hymns, among the best letters written in English, and other writing ran into 15 volumes.
Speaking in tongues the Spirit’s sine qua non?
I never have been gifted with speaking in tongues. Being a pianist I had a way of emotional release akin to glossalalia. I prayed mightily for it at one low point, friends persuading me that baptism in the Spirit aka speaking in tongues would solve all problems.
Finally, I said, “Lord, if you want me to have this gift, you’ll have to give it. You know how badly I want it. But I’m not going to work myself into a frenzy.”
So my longing faded, and I felt assured that being a Christ follower means having the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit is why I belove/believe/belive
Basically, I am a Christ follower because of the Holy Spirit witness in my heart. The Bible alone could not persuade me. Nor could the church, or individual followers.
As it says in The Song of Bernadette, “If you don’t believe in God, no evidence is sufficient. If you do believe [with heart, mind, soul, strength], no evidence is necessary.”
