Lenten Reflection for March 26
Lenten Reflection for March 26
Lenten Reflection on Chapter 4: "Spirit"
Suddenly, a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them’ (Acts 2:2-4)
As I reflected on Dr. Stone’s chapter on Spirit, I found myself retracing my own spiritual journey and beliefs as related to the Holy Spirit. As an African American with Caribbean ancestry, I related to her early church experiences. Whether apart of the African Methodist Episcopal or Baptist denominations, the open manifestations of the Holy Spirit/Holy Ghost within church congregations were always accepted and encouraged. As a young adult I embraced the Pentecostal faith, which had many elements in common with earlier experiences, but with more emphasis on the Holy Spirit and associated gifts. To be clear, Black Spiritualism and Pentecostalism are not the same, as pointed out by Dr. Stone. However, there are common threads that revolve around the open embrace of ‘gifts of the spirit’ (especially speaking in tongues) and open testimonies about God’s grace in the lives of parishioners, etc.
The caution here as Dr. Stone pointed out is that “‘The gifts of the Spirit should not be prioritized above the ‘fruit of the Spirit’” (p. 80) It is these ‘fruits’ (love, peace, kindness, goodness, care, and concern for others, etc.) that bear witness to our Christianity. The other caution that is evident in her writings is that we must embrace all segments of the Holy Trinity (God, the Father, Jesus, the Son, the Holy Spirit (the gift given to us on the day of Pentecost). She states, “God the Father or Jesus the Son tend to become the focus, and the Spirit slips from our view.” (p. 81) Dr. Stone emphasizes that the Holy Spirit can be elusive in our church practices.
As I read this chapter, I wondered why the Holy Spirit appears to be elusive in some churches outside of Black Spiritualism. The answer maybe in the explanation Dr. Stone offers in her discussion of the different perspectives on Spirit. For some the church is not only the body of Christ but also the body in which the Holy Spirit dwells. The view is that “God has come to the Church as a whole through the Holy Spirit … There is no need for personal experience of this, since our faith affirms this is true.” (p. 79) The other perspective is that each individual should “experience what it is for the Spirit to come and make her home within them” (their own personal Pentecost). (p. 79) From this perspective, the individual is actively empowered by the Spirit to live a Holy life – with or without special gifts.
In my experience, Black Spirituality is a mosaic of both views. The Holy Spirit dwells within the Church, but members are also encouraged to experience the manifestations of the Spirit as individuals. Just as the Spirit empowers the Church to be Christ’s witness to the world, so too are individual Christians empowered through their personal relationship with the Spirit. Christians today can receive gifts just as the disciples did on the Day of Pentecost; but in my experience, the Spirit most often moves us to Christian action by that persistent nudge that may pushes us outside of our comfort zone. The Holy Spirit may urge us to pray (as with the example Dr. Stone cites in her writings, give a word of encouragement to someone we may not know, and a myriad of other ways that help us connect Spirit to Spirit with someone else.
What has your experience been with the Holy Spirit?
Linda is a member of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church and Project Coordinator for their Community Conversations Ecumenical Consortium.