In anticipation of Pentecost, we had several discussions on times when we felt the presence of the Holy Spirit. My contribution to the discussion was the experience of getting together with relatively small groups to try to make things better. At times the discussions build to a point where it becomes clear that ideas being shared are divinely inspired. There is often a “wow” how did we get to such a height given are marginal intelligence and limited perspective. It is a great feeling and it makes it rewarding to work in the Church.
With every mountain, there is also a valley. The sensation after experiencing an activity or behavior is completely inconsistent with the behavior a Christian community is committed to develop leaves one with such a demoralizing feeling. There is a real sense of failure and purposelessness when members steal something or lie or seek to inappropriately demean others. The questions quickly spring up: What am I doing here? Are we making any real difference? Maybe the net of all we do is make people feel a little better about not doing the right thing all the time rather than doing the right thing?
I am not sure what the point in all this is but perhaps it’s a request for all of us to work a little harder at practicing what we profess to believe in. Our decisions and our behavior for better or worse can be amplified many times and have either a much greater impact than would have been imagined. I am not suggesting that we cannot disagree with past actions or future plans but let us do so constructively, honestly and fully aware of our context.
At the end of the day, there is way too much to be thankful for nearly all of us and behavior that doesn’t reflect our mutual belief in Christ can shred the fabric of our community and eliminate the persistent expression of gratitude we should all have. I am hopeful we can constructively and collectively hold each other in mutual account of our behavior.
