Can’t live without it

A homily for the Feast of Pentecost, Sunday, May 31, 2020

Acts 2:1-11 , 1 Cor 12:3B-7, 12-13,  Jn 20:19-23

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Take a deep breath. Let it out slowly.

Breathe deeply through your nose, yoga-style, then hold it for a count of 10.

Let it out slowly through your pursed lips, as if you were going to whistle. And whistle softly if you want; it’s optional.

Now let your breathing go back to automatic. It’s not that easy, is it? Not after doing controlled breathing exercises.

For me, letting it go back to automatic is scary. I pay too much attention to whether the auto-pilot switches on, and I breathe consciously in-out-in-out while I wait for the unconscious … which, of course, delays the cut-over. Sometimes I think I’ll never go back to breathing without thinking about it, which of course means I’m going to die in my sleep unless I stay up all night remembering to breathe. Totally irrational, but….

Such is the importance of the breath of life.

Just ask anybody on the COVID-19 front lines.

One of the scientific/medical terms for breathing is inhaling — bringing health into your body, à la “hale and hearty.” Which makes perfect sense.

Another scientific/medical term, more widely used, is inspiration.

Bringing the spirit into your body.

Such is the far greater importance of the divine breath of life.

The Holy Spirit’s descent upon the Apostles two millennia ago, which we commemorate today, was not the Spirit’s arrival. The Spirit had been with humanity since Eden, though few people actually recognized and communed with this Divine Essence. They didn’t establish a firm relationship with the Spirit, didn’t just embrace the spirit the way their prophets and, later, Jesus wanted them to.

Which left it up to the Apostles, and to us.

That first Pentecost plugged the Apostles into the infinite power of the spirit, into the focused power of the Spirit to ignite the divine spark within each child of God.

That first Pentecost ignited the tongues of fire that energized the Apostles to spread the Good News worldwide, to lay the foundation for Western Civilization, to tell every man, woman and child alive or yet to be born that God is love and that God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son to save the world from its sins and open the gates of Heaven.

That’s a lot of fire. That’s a lot of energy. That’s some Spirit, that Holy Spirit, alive in us. Especially today.

But just as with breathing, just as with inspiration, we must draw the Spirit into ourselves. We must choose to accept the grace God is offering us. God offers us grace to do good with it, because we are the hands and hearts and eyes and ears of Jesus in the world.

God offers us grace through the Spirit to be the best versions of ourselves, to use all our God-given gifts and talents to their fullest.

God gives us the Gifts of the Holy Spirit — wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and awe in the presence of God — as the tools to grow to our fullest.

Which is why we usually think of something other than breathing when we hear the word “inspiration.”

That rendition of “Amazing Grace” was inspiring. I was inspired to write the Great American Novel. The governor’s speech was inspiring. I was inspired to cut the lawn and edge it.

All of these ideas, the strictly personal ones and the ones that lead us to do something world-changing, humanity-saving, all of these ideas are small-letter-g gifts of the Holy Spirit, powered by the Big-G Gifts.

Each of us is a unified single being. Body and soul, mind, will and conscience. A nervous system that connects our brain and our senses. Blood coursing through our arteries and veins. Emotions that impel us, compel us, paralyze us, sicken us.

There’s no scalpel or ratchet wrench or laser that can excise one part of us without leaving what’s left as … not us. I am whole, therefore I am.

Therefore, the Holy Spirit’s grace bathes — saturates — every facet of our being. Every bit of us.

Every inspiration is from the Trinity, no matter what it may be: spiritual, theological, philosophical, musical, artistic, architectural,  carpenter-ical, pops-ical (well, maybe not that). So, when we are inspired by the Holy Spirit, we renew our spiritual relationship and reconnect with Spirit-filled events such as our Baptism, our Confirmation, our personal Pentecosts, our shared communal annual Pentecost, which we celebrate today.

Yes, we do this annually, gloriously, in brilliant red after 50-some days of the Easter season. And a day like today can add power to our lives, just as the Apostles must have felt back in 33 A.D.

But every time we feel inspired, every time we credit our “muse,” we must remember:

It’s the Holy Spirit, inviting us into a loving embrace.

Daily, even hourly.

Be inspired always.

All ways inspired.

Breathe it in.