Subscribe now to receive new weekly essays by email!
Holy Spirit - Someone's name.
When people tell us their names, we treat those self-identifiers as of far more significance than their addresses, phone numbers, or even their present occupation. “Holy Spirit” is a personal name of God, frequently mentioned in connection with the procedure for selecting a new pope, but also a name we might be glad to hear in relation to many aspects of our daily lives. We are not talking about a kind of power, but about someone who both is and has infinite creative power: Love.
Right from the very notion of creation itself, of which Scripture has God saying, “It is good,” the Holy Spirit moved and moves in and through all that exists, for Love is creative. Nothing is, unless it, and we, are loved into being. It is wholly appropriate then, that we turn to the Holy Spirit when we desire the power of God’s creative love to guide us in any decision or action of our own or of anyone else whose decisions or actions are of importance to us. When we pray in this way, we participate in and with the Holy Spirit’s movements that affect us and all that concerns us.
We can treat anyone’s name with much or little respect, depending upon whatever relationship we have with each person. When we reflect on the names of any we know, and ponder our experiences of them, our hopes and concerns in relation to them, and the degree of our regard for them, we cannot help but grow closer as we note the spontaneous authentic movements of our hearts and minds. If we let ourselves consciously think about the manifestations of the Holy Spirit’s gifts and graces that we have received, consolation is a very likely consequence. It is hard to imagine, even theoretically, that anyone could engage in this exercise and discover that they do not wish to grow closer to God.
When we relate with family, friends, and all others, we have our experience in doing so and they have theirs. We take our understanding of their perspectives regarding us by what they say and do, including subtle tones of voice and non-verbal gestures. By these means, we come to trust others, having no guarantee or proof for our beliefs in other’s respect or care for us. Our experience of the Holy Spirit is similar in depending upon our belief, including our attention to the overt and subtle ways the Holy Spirit speaks and acts, but quite different in the way we hear God’s voice and perceive God’s actions concerning us. We only need to allow the name, “Holy Spirit” into consciousness, and observe what takes place within us, to experience directly the benefits of the gift of faith that already resides in us.
Even if we do not receive intellectual understanding about the Holy Spirit, our hearts will resonate with the transcendent truth that God is good to us and for us.
Last Updated 5/3/2025