Speaking of Spirit

Photo Credit: (c) 2017 L. Neas As I sat this morning meditating on what today's message would be, a dove landed outside the window, cooing softly. For me, this was a visible sign that Spirit, most often portrayed as a dove, was with me. Instantly, I realized this was my message. When I attended parochial school as a young girl, I was taught about Spirit, or more correctly The Holy Spirit. We were told that when we became one with Spirit, we were given gifts that would help us live well and serve others. These gifts, or  charisms , are: teaching, serving, words of wisdom, giving, leadership, mercy and prophecy. In the world today, we are in sore need of these gifts. Looking at this through an interfaith/inter-spiritual lens, we can find many people, who have been graced with Spirit, who are diligently working to bring all humanity together in peaceful co-existence with all life on this planet.  Those who do the work of Peace are one in Spirit. When we are one ...

Photo Credit: Colombe de Noé CC BY-SA 3.0 Modern society often turns a blind eye on anything related to Spirit, which may be why we keep this part of ourselves hidden. However, Spirit is ever present, whether society wants to see it or not.  Spirit is evident in the connections we make with each other and with the world.  We may be in different bodies, in different time zones, working at different jobs, knowing different people, but, we are all part of the same Spirit...God's Holy Spirit. Mary Anne Radmacher wrote, "Courage doesn't always roar.  Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, 'I will try again tomorrow.'" Courage is a gift of Spirit. When we are connected to our Spirit, we have courage, we gain wisdom and we have the ability to love. May the Spirit that unites us all, be ever-present in our lives.  May we reap the benefits of the gifts of Spirit and use them wisely to help make the world a better place...