The Gift of the Holy Spirit

When I was a young mother, I remember watching a made for TV movie based on a true story. It was about a young, single mother, dying of cancer, who worked very hard to prepare her young daughter for her death. Much of what she told her daughter was too difficult for her to understand because the daughter was very young, only four or five years old. Her mother prepared a collection of documents and mementos to help her daughter remember her, photographs, voice audiotapes, drawings and writings that her daughter could use to help her connect with her early memories of her mother. And her mother also promised her that she would never leave her, that though the daughter might not be able to see her, her mother would be ever present to her in spirit. 'When you feel lonely,' she told her daughter, 'close your eyes and look inside, and you will see me.'

In the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, the today's gospel reading is captioned 'The Promise of the Holy Spirit.' By choosing this lesson from the gospel of John, our lectionary is setting the stage for the observance of the Ascension of Jesus and Sunday after next, the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Like the young mother in our true story, Jesus is preparing his disciples, for his departure to God. "I will not leave you orphaned," Jesus says. "I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you will also live...I shall ask the Father, and he will send you another Paraclete to be with you forever."

When I hear this gospel reading, I still get a mental image of being wrapped up in a large fluffy blanket - left over from my youth when stories were read from a bible in which the Greek word 'parakletos' or 'paraclete' was translated as 'comforter.' We would be mistaken if we think that Jesus is satisfied with leaving us merely comforted, something to keep us warm on a cold night. If you had a chance to interview the folks who gathered at Pentecost, I doubt the word 'comfort' and 'Holy Spirit' would occupy the same sentence. I think they would more likely talk about being 'smitten' by the Holy Spirit, or shaken, excited, agitated or - to peek ahead a couple of weeks - "drunk".

Parakletos is used only five times in the NT, four times in this Gospel to refer to the Spirit and once in the first letter of John to refer to Jesus. Parakletos can mean a lawyer who pleads your case or a witness who testifies in your behalf. It can refer to a person who gives comfort, counsel or strength in time of need. The literal meaning is, "someone called in" but the reason why the person is called in, gives the word its distinctive associations. Always a parakletos is someone called in to help when the person who calls is in trouble, distress, doubt or bewilderment. It is a helper in the time of crisis, a counsellor when you are at a critical crossroads. If you have ever had the experience of seeking counsel at a time of crisis you will know what a complex relationship the counsellor - client relationship is. I can relate it to the practice of counselling in social work, where the aim is to support people in crisis while empowering them to engage in the process of change. It's certainly not about a quick fix that will make it all better, although that is usually what the client is seeking. That's completely understandable - we all just want our pain to go away. But a good counsellor, a true paraclete, will challenge you to look at yourself, your relationships and society on all levels. She or he will then support you through the process in what is sometimes called a 'corrective' relationship.

We don't talk much about love in the secular practice of social work, which I think is a great shame, because I think counselling is better described as a loving relationship. A good human counsellor (or paraclete) practices the kind of love that is spoken of in the Gospel today, albeit a love bounded by human experience and limitations. It is an active love and, much like the love of the Parakletos, not only comforts but challenges us, even shakes us up a little. It challenges us to embrace change on all levels. Personal change, change in relationships, change in society, change in the world. When this relationship works the way is should, it is a relationship of empowerment.

Jesus calls this parakletos the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because the world neither sees nor knows the spirit. But, Jesus continues, you know the Holy Spirit because it abides with you and will be in you. So we contain within each us the spirit of truth, to which we need only be re-connected. A good paraclete - whether human or divine - will help you reconnect with what is already there inside, reconnect with your own inner paracletos if you like. This inner paraclete, the inner Christ, is the true empower-er. It is the source of our personal sense of authentic being, it makes love of God, self and others truly possible, and it is often hidden or buried. It is often hidden or buried because the world does not want to see it. How do we get reconnected? Remember that the literal translation of parakletos is 'one who is called in.' In your personal reflections this coming week, I would give you this task. Ponder all the ways in which you call in the Holy Spirit, the parakletos, and the conundrum of how you can call in something that is already there.

Jesus said, "On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them." I feel Jesus is giving us an important charge that comes with the reception of the Holy Spirit. He commands us to love. By commanding us to love, Jesus challenges us to accept the spirit of truth and be prepared to be changed by love. By commanding us to love, Jesus challenges us to accept the spirit of truth and be prepared to have others be changed by our love.

Henri Nouwen wrote,

"Love is based ... on the belief in the reversibility of evil. Evil, then, is not final and changeable. Ghandi's concept of non-violence was essentially based on his conviction that forgiveness could change every enemy into a friend, that in hatred love is hidden, in despair hope, in doubt faith, in evil good, in sin redemption. Love is an act of forgiving in which evil is converted to good and destruction into creation. In the truthful, tender and disarmed encounter of love, we are able to create."

In that creative moment when we connect with the spirit, we will see how love of God, neighbour, self, our love for Christ and Christ's love for each one of us are all of one piece. Jesus tells us we will understand because he will reveal himself to us through the Spirit of Truth and when we receive this spirit we will also receive the truth about love. We are never the same after we know that truth, are we? When our hearts are on fire with the Holy Spirit, how can we be still?

The good news is that a life lived in love is a life lived in true freedom. As Nouwen says, it's an engagement in creation. However, be prepared to be misunderstood or ridiculed for being a lover, be prepared to be disappointed when your love is rejected. Be prepared to be patient with yourself when you cannot feel or accept the love of others. We all know that learning to love and to receive love is a life-long journey.

Thankfully, we have been given the promise of the Holy Spirit, who abides in us and is in us.

Finally, this from Julian of Norwich:

"I desired often to know what was our Lord's meaning. And fifteen years after and more, I was answered in inward understanding, saying, 'Would you know your Lord's meaning in this? Learn it well. Love was his meaning. Who showed you? Love. What did he show you? Love. Why did he show you? For love. Hold fast to this, and you shall learn and know more about love, but you will never need to know or understand anything else for ever and ever.' Thus did I learn that love was our Lord's meaning."