Well this morning, I received a marvelous letter! As I continue thinking about this letter, I recognize the brilliance. The key to it was its honesty. This is something that everyone must work on. Honesty is something that is so very hard for each and every one of us to do.
The allusion that was used to try and convey the Holy Spirit works wonderfully well for me. It talks about the elevator and its counter-weight. My wife’s family is in the elevator industry, so it quickly penetrated by skull. IT points out a basic part of the elevator system. As the elevator goes up, there is the assist of the counterweight is going down and vice versa. It is a simple system which allows the drive mechanisms not having to work so hard. When the elevator is going down the counterweight goes up… keeping the drop in control. But we never think of this as we can never see it.
Our own Counterweight
It seems to me this works very well in describing the Holy Spirit. We seldom see the Holy spirit in a literal sense…. But we always know He is there, working away. Helping us to control ourselves. An elevator also describes part of St Ignatius of Loyola’s spiritual exercises. There are times in our lives when we are going up on the elevator. We are in a state of elation. And at times we are going downward or a state of desolation. With our gift of faith the Holy Spirit is there keeping you under control… not slamming into the roof and when going down not slamming into the maintenance pit and concrete floor.
So where is this honesty, I was speaking of before. Honesty has to be part of the entire process. If we shroud ourselves in self-delusion, we are not going to reach out for the help of the Holy Spirit. We can delude ourselves thinking that we can control all of the aspects of our lives and this is something we all do from time to time as well. As we go up we think we got this… when we come down… we say “we got this”
Ignatian Spirituality
It might be a delusion in itself, but I think that we naturally all go through this cycle. Emotionally there are times when we are on the “high” side, at others the “low”. I may notice this more since I am married to someone who suffers from Bi-polar syndrome. But it does help to make note of how I am feeling myself. This examination of how I am feeling gives me a bit more information on how I am reacting to things that are happening around me. That kind of honesty with oneself can allow one not to make decisions when one is in the state of desolation. Your mindset is not in the right place to make major decisions.
The same is true of one’s high moments when everything looks absolutely perfect. This we are speaking of in the physical world… but let’s kick it up a notch to our spiritual world. When God speaks to us and we are in the world of elation. We are doing very well. How could it be otherwise. When you are in the ethereal world with God all is actually going wonderfully. This happens occasionally for brief periods. God gives us a spiritual high when all is going very well and you are in a proper mindset.
Sacramental Life
For me this calls to mind the sacraments. When at Mass and are 3 feet away from the Eucharist. Jesus is there in front of me, and soon I will receive Him and let He and I join together as one. My focus is on Jesus and the sanctifying grace…. I think also of my day of Ordination, being conformed to Christ the Servant an amazing thing to be striving for. I think also of my day of marriage, again the joining together in elated love. These times bring the alignment of my human mind, dull and faded as it is, together with God’s will.
These are times of complete honesty. Knowing that I am being truly honest with God and with the world… I am spiritually in elation and physically in that butter zone. That is when the Holy Spirit is working in our lives. Looking at ourselves is generally a scary process. And yes it is a process. We look at ourselves at first and say, that really is pretty good… or We may say ugh that is all horrible. Neither of these viewpoints are correct. Over time these viewpoints become a bit clearer.
Honestly getting to know you
For those who at first think themselves perfect, they notice a small blotch over there. Perhaps that day’s Bible reading brought a memory up from earlier on in life when one didn’t treat someone as well as they should have… For those that think themselves horrible it may evoke a time when speaking to that child brought such a smile to not only the child but the parents as well. Over time we develop a more accurate picture of who it is we actually are. We continue to see clearer who the real person actually is and work on those things that bring us joy. All this is helped along by the Holy Spirit.
Many ask why it takes so long to be a Deacon in the Church. This process is a big part of that time. Oh sure we are learning Scripture, Morality, Pastoral skills, theology, etc. But at the same time we are looking at ourselves. One of the first things that is done is an extensive psychological profile. Part of the reason is more practical and to help the Church find obvious issues that have in the past been a problem. But since that is such a small amount the other purpose is for all of the people coming into the program to begin to see themselves for who they are. Becoming honest with themselves.
Reality
This can be wonderfully exhilarating and at the same time downright depressing. To find out your personality traits and things like that are fun. But these tests get down deeply into the soul almost. One of the most probing examination of conscience. It wakes you up to the fact that we tend to see ourselves quite differently from reality. The goal for everyone is to be fully honest with themselves. Because at that point we can actually be honest with God. That Holy Spirit acting behind the scenes. This comes along very nicely with a renewed viewpoint of others as well. We can see perhaps a suffering that someone is struggling with. We can grow even closer to our wives or husbands.
All of this learning of ourselves without being able to apply it, does little good. This would just be the ego. But once one is honest and then fully in love with yourself… this is when the floodgates open and all of the love which is in you comes crashing out working to bring good and help to all around. This is at times called the outpouring of the Holy Spirit or perhaps the manifestations of the Holy Spirit. But this is the ultimate benefit of honesty with God, yourself and others that great word Love. That you would sacrifice everything you had for God and by that very notion sacrifice everything for all of His children. Jesus died on a cross for each of us. We all have our own crosses and we give of ourselves to the extent that we can for others. This is love. This is honesty.
Be good Play nice Think God!
The reading for Pentecost can be found here at the USCCB Site:http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/060919-day.cfm
You also might be interested in https://deacondavestowell.com/a-little-faith-please/