Monday, October 8, 2018
621 - That's the Spirit
Spirituality Column #621
October 9, 2018
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary
That’s the Spirit
By Bob Walters
“…no one knows the
thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:11
Sitting in
a college calculus class back in the mid-1970s I frequently endured stultifying
mystery trying to ingest and comprehend the thoughts of the professor.
I thoroughly
trusted he knew what he was doing and I got the basics of what calculus was supposed
to do mathematically – measure and predict the variations of angles on curves
(as I recall). But I was more
entertained than enlightened watching the formulations progress in dusty white
chalk on the old slate blackboard, and let’s just say the spirit of calculus
never visited my inmost being. I escaped with a C and resumed focus on my
journalism major. Words, not numbers,
were to be my life.
Faith-wise
I went decades having some idea of what the Holy Spirit was supposed to be and
do – it is part of the trinity and communicates Godly ideas – without my ever
ingesting or comprehending its actual cosmic, life application. In the calculus class I saw other students
“get it” (calculus) and thrive, and I figured it was just fine if I left
calculus to them. I didn’t doubt
calculus or think it wasn’t “real” – I wasn’t mad at it – I just never figured
I personally would need or understand it.
Ditto the Holy Spirit.
I had
friends who became engineers, doctors, and math teachers, and friends who
became ministers and (or already were) devout Christians. I charged ahead with a very fun sports
writing, sports public relations, and corporate communications career. “Each to his own,” I figured. I rarely gave calculus or the Holy Spirit a
thought.
Having grown
up in a traditional Episcopal Church – an altar boy, no less – I retained only
a patina of spiritual, Jesus, and Godly inquisitiveness after I stopped
attending church in my teen years. As an
adult I’d occasionally see TV preachers who, like my old calculus professor,
were interesting to watch and listen to despite my lack of understanding or
aptitude. I even picked up a Bible a few
times – when I could find one – but it was as opaque an undertaking as reading a
math book. Having lived sans scriptura that long … why bother?
But with no
disrespect to that knowledgeable calculus professor or those (mostly) sincere TV
preachers, I surprisingly encountered a super-teacher in my mid-40s who was so
slick I didn’t even realize education was happening until I picked up a Bible
late in 2001 and suddenly its ancient words were making profound, life-changing
sense.
Some time
after that – time of study, prayer, learning, and growth – I knew I had
encountered the Holy Spirit who I am convinced was lurking in wait for the
right time, place, and circumstance to spring Jesus on me. What happened? My then-teenaged son I love wanted to go to
church so I went with him. The Holy
Spirit had me at “hello.”
God is the
Father and Jesus is the Light, but it is the Holy Spirit who teaches our hearts
and minds to discern the otherwise unimaginable wisdom and power of God. As
Jesus said, “He will take the things of
mine and show them to you,” (John 16:14).
And so He
did, and so He will. Such is the loving calculus
of eternal life.
Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) reports that the definition of “Calculus” at MIT’s website begins:
“Calculus is the study of how things change.” How perfect is that?
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