Holy Spirit Hunting

A long time ago . . . once upon a time . . . when I was much younger . . . about 18 . . . I began a Holy Spirit hunt. I wanted to have an Acts 2.32 experience: tongues of fire, ferocious winds, being caught up by the Spirit's power. This hunt is not uncommon. But, I thought I'd share my hunting technique from those curious days.

First, I got alone in my bedroom. Pushed everything out of my way so I could lay completely horizontal, flat on my back with arms spread out. I relaxed and readied myself for the Spirit's descent [the carpeted floor was quite comfy]. I figured the ancient church's mantra of "Come, Holy Spirit and fill the heart of your faithful" would be a good prayer to get the process moving along, so I prayed: "Come, Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, come. Spirit of the Holy God, come, come, come." [Did you know that back in the 70's ceilings were painted and texturized with sparkly stuff? This fascinates me for a moment]. I counted multiple webs of spiders and what appeared to be floating tissue dangling from the corners of my room. Symbols of the Holy Spirit? No. Just webs. [When was the last time I cleaned my room?]

Where was this fierce Holy Spirit I was hunting. Hmmmm. A different prayer this time, and I'll do it in three [to symbolize the Trinity]:

Come! Come! COME! Holy Spirit! Silence. Nothing.

I turned over on my side. The horizontal position may be a bit presumptious upon the Holy One of Israel - I'll avert my face a bit. I tried every biblical number of "come, Holy spirit" that came to mind: 3, 4, 7, 9, 12, 24 [but not 6, for that is an unholy number].

More dust. I was getting fidgety and feeling stupid. [Thank goodness no one was home].

I rolled over to lay completely prostrate. Nose on the floor. Palms down. Surely, this must be the most humble I could be before my LORD. Again, nothing. Holy Spirit, I am here, where are you? A few more minutes of tapping my fingers on the floor, breathing in the ever-present dust, and muttering my mantra ended in a huff. I had given the Spirit 10 minutes to create a windy wildfire in my room - like He had in the Upper Room with the disciples. Enough. I'm done. I'll hunt later. Maybe a different plan. [I guess I'll clean my room now].

I will say how I "got" the Holy Spirit, but not now. [It may be surprising to the reader].

This Sunday, June 4, the Ancient Church celebrates Pentecost, the fiftieth day after the Resurrection of Jesus - the giving of the Holy Spirit. I look forward to it every year as I would a birthday party. The church is birthed. Yippee. Confetti, please. Jesus has now left one place (the earth) to be present in every place (people's hearts). Astounding!

[The prayer]: Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Your love.

[A Scripture]: "Electrifying! This first Pentecost was like no other! The wait in Jerusalem was over - the disciples received the Holy Spirit in fulfillment of Jesus' promise of empowerment as they spread the Good News 'to the ends of the earth'"(Acts 1:8,GNT).

[What to wear to the party]: Why, red of course!

art by melanie weidner