Drink The Water

A Reflection on the Second Reading for May 31st, 2020:
The Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday

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1 Corinthians 12.3-7, 12-13

Brothers and sisters: No one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body — Jews or Greeks, slaves or free — and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
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Pause. Pray.

And then read more...

Water is the essential ingredient for creating and sustaining the life of the body. The Holy Spirit is the Essential Person who creates and sustains the life of the soul. Just as all of creation was made to drink of one compound in order to maintain physical life and health, “we were all made to drink of one Spirit” so that He could manifest our individual gifts “for the common good”—for the collective health of His Body.

As I gaze out over a quiet inlet which leads out to a choppy cove, I can see varying levels of movement in the same body of water. Near the beach where I sit, the water moves gently and uniformly; quietly drifting toward me in gentle swells, broken only by a few large rocks, shaggy with seaweed. As the water deepens, the current and the widening of the bight into the cove, fools the eye into believing the water is still. It’s not—it is simply in transition, and the water beneath the surface is very likely moving quicker, as it creates a rip current. As the quickened water meets the open cove, it becomes deeper yet, and more exposed. It now exhibits great power as it crests and breaks, reaches and pulls, and as it does, over time, it shapes even the densest rocks within it.

Though the varying activities of water may offer us a breadth of experiences when upon it, we would none of us argue that it is, in fact, still the same compound. It is still water.

I love the wild, white-water rafting types of experiences of the Holy Spirit, but at this point in time, I rather find myself in the still, quiet—but exposed— waters of transition. In one sense, it feels like a very inactive stage in the faith journey, but I’m beginning to learn that the opposite is actually true. In this opening between the inlet and the cove, the water is deep, apparently calm, but much is at play beneath the surface. I find myself feeling stuck as I wildly flail my arms and legs, desperate to reach the adventuresome waters up ahead. But the current holds me in place. It is here where God calls out to me, “Be still, and I will carry you to where you are meant to go.”

Those who play with currents know that sometimes the point at which you feel that you most need to fight, is actually the point at which you most need to let go. When a wave pulls you under, it can disorient you. Often, the only way back to the surface is to let The Water take you there.

Surrendering to the guidance of the Holy Spirit is an ongoing battle of the wills for me. Dense as a rock at times, I am grateful for the persistent refining by the Spirit—unsettling though it may be.


Let us pray today that whatever waters we find ourselves in, we may trust in the certainty that He is still creating Life.




Lori MacDonald

Photo by Lori MacDonald on Canva

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