Sunday, August 30, 2009

Lectio Divina - Fifty-four


Chung Hyun Kyung in “Come, Holy Spirit - Renew the Whole Creation”, in
Signs of the Spirit: Official Report of the Seventh Assembly, Michael Kinnamon, ed. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1991, pp. 42-3.

Then what should we do when the spirit calls us? The first thing we should do is repent. While I was preparing for this reflection in Korea, I had a chance to spend some time with Christian grassroots women activists in Korea. I asked them if there was anything they wanted me to say to the Christians from around the world gathered in Canberra with the theme “Come, Holy Spirit - Renew the Whole Creation.” They told me: “Tell them they don’t have to spend too much energy to call the Spirit because the Spirit is already here with us. Don’t bother calling her all the time. She is busy working hard with us. The only problem is we do not have eyes to see and ears to hear the Spirit, as we are occupied with our greed. So tell them repent!” So sisters and brothers, I give you a “not-so-pleasant” greeting from my sisters, “Repent!” . . . Indeed repentance is the first step in any truthful prayer. Genuine repentance, metanoia, also means a radical change of direction in our individual and communal life. In order to feel the Holy Spirit, we have to turn ourselves to the direction of the wind of life, the direction the Holy Spirit blows.


2 comments:

Lindsay Boyer said...

Loving God, you are already here with us. Help us to reorient ourselves so that we are aligned with you and your action, turning ourselves so that we no longer create resistance to you but become a part of your movement in the world.

Jeanne said...

well blow me down, Holy Spirit! And thank those sisters in Korea for calling you "She."