Rev. D.L. Moody, one of the most eminent evangelist of all-time, was to have a campaign in England. An elderly pastor protested, “Why do we need this ‘Mr. Moody’? He’s uneducated, inexperienced, .... Who does he think he is anyway? Does he think he has a monopoly on the Holy Spirit?”
A younger, wiser pastor rose and responded, “No, but the Holy Spirit has a monopoly on Mr. Moody.”
Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), a Cistercian abbot, poet, and mystical theologian, often preached on the Song of Songs, where he saw the relationship between God and the Christian in the terms of romantic metaphor. In the Song 1.2 we read a beautiful passage:
Kiss me with the kisses of your mouth, because your love is better than wine. (NCV)
Bernard saw the "kiss" as the Church and Christian receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. He assumed that the "kiss" comes only through Christ, from the Father. Therefore, the text does not read simply "kiss me with your mouth," but "kiss me with the kisses of your mouth."
Bernard refers to Jesus giving the Holy Spirit in the Gospel of John 20.21-22:
21 Then Jesus said again, "Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, I now send you." 22 After he said this, he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit." (NCV)
The Greek aorist imperative implies a command, not a request ~ labete, "Receive you." And the verb "to breathe, blow" appears only this once in the New Testament, and only once in the Greek rendition of the Old Testament, at Genesis 2.7:
7 Then the Lord God took dust from the ground and formed a man from it. He breathed the breath of life [lit., lives] into the man's nose, and the man became a living person. (NCV).
The metaphor reminds us that the word "spirit, Spirit" in Hebrew and Greek speaks of the wind and breath. The use of the Greek in the Genesis and John stories implies to us that the summation of the New Creation, the New Person, is confirmed with Jesus "breathing into" his followers the Holy Spirit.
In both the Genesis and Gospel of John accounts, the poetic language confirms that this mysterious, personal, and holy Power is received, not grasped, given, not procured by gain.
Often in my morning devotion, and over many months, I hear the word arise in inner hearing, "Receive." Indeed, contemplation is the summit of spiritual receptivity, relinquishment to the gratuitous Presence of Grace.
Silence provides an open environment of heart and community for receptivity. Silence stills the mind for the In-Breathing of God, the ongoing refreshment and power of the Holy Spirit:
2The LORD makes me lie down in green fields.
He leads me beside quiet waters.
3He restores my strength. (Psalm 23.2-3a, AT)
Therefore, contemplative prayer is linked with the Holy Spirit. The posture of Christian mystical prayer is abandonment to the One who gives to those faithfully ready the ongoing gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was, is, and will be given freely to anyone abandoned to the radical Truth of Divine Grace in the Person of the Resurrected Christ.
*Brian K. Wilcox lives with his two beloved dogs, St. Francis and Bandit Ty, in Southwest Florida. He serves the Christ Community United Methodist Church, Punta Gorda, FL. Brian is vowed at Greenbough House of Prayer, a contemplative Christian community in South Georgia. He lives a contemplative life and inspires others to experience a more intimate relationship with Christ. Brian advocates for a spiritually-focused Christianity and renewal of the focus of the Church on addressing the deeper spiritual needs and longings of persons, along with empathic relating with other world religions, East and West. Brian has an independent writing, workshop, and retreat ministry, for all spiritual seekers.
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