Definitive Spirit!

One of the benefits of working with ecumenical colleagues appears in the nuances that we bring with us. This week, I got to plan some liturgies with some amazing and inspiring folks of a variety of contexts, backgrounds, time zones, and denominations. A blessing!

One of the differences that came up among us was our language around the third ‘person’ of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit was referenced both as the Spirit and Spirit.

In the first, the definitive article intimates a formality, a position, an understanding of God: the Spirit is comparable to the Father and the Son.

My friend, however, eliminated the ‘the’. She calls the Spirit ‘Spirit’ as a name… she speaks of God, of Jesus, and of Spirit. This naming speaks of a personal connection, a friendliness.

In one of our prayerful discussions, she was invoking Spirit to come and dance among us; to inspire, to move, to play with us as we were doing our best to faithfully write prayers that would be appropriate to the setting.

It was a lovely time to consider the Spirit of God interacting with us, breathing new life to our bodies and new ideas into our minds. That she was hovering over us, floating on our laughter, buoyant by our happiness, embracing us (even over Zoom!)

It was a refreshing way to contemplate my interaction with the Spirit – and to seek ways to deepen my relationship with her: as friend and companion, in a close relational manner: where we call each other by name.

Come, Spirit, let’s continue the dance!