By Sharon Campbell Rayment – Special to the Sydenham Current
This weekend I will be Ordained into the United Church of Canada.
I think I am the longest running candidate they have ever had!
Of course, as you know I was derailed for a time with the traumatic brain injury.
But Spirit would not let me deny my call, my sense of hope, and connectedness even in my worst state of confusion, frustration and anger.
Spirit led me to walk the labyrinth or use my finger labyrinth to renew the connections within my bruised and injured brain upon the path.
Spirit led me to just be with the horses.
I sat for hours in my bewildered state with them as they munched on grass.
Yet in this time, resting in the Spirit, I rewired my mind, awakened my soul, and they were my sacred community for my healing.
Spirit, it seemed would not let me give up, though I must admit, I didn’t recognize Spirit as being present as I went through this.
In the moment I didn’t realize it, but reflecting upon that time, only Spirit had the power to move me from placidness to reconnect and engage with life again.
Spirit is part of the Trinity of God our creator, Jesus our teacher, redeemer and guide, and the Spirit of encouragement and action.
For many it may seem like the Spirit is MIA.
We hear a lot about God and Jesus but Spirit, Encouragement. in our disenfranchised and fragmented lives seems distant.
Yet our hearts long for this Spirit that Jesus calls the “Advocate”, the “Spirit of truth” who will “teach you everything” and “remind you of all things” is “with you and in you”. (John 14:26)
The Spirt exists everywhere and in everything infused with God, and that same Spirit is within you. It is the breath that warms and renews everything (John 20:22).
The Spirit unites us from within to all things and to each other. (John 14:16-20)
The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. (Romans 8:26-27)
Spirit invites us to a deeper life. A life of awareness with the “mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:10-16) transforming us from hopelessness to hope.
Who knew we were helped so much by the Spirit!
So, when you feel lonely, anxious, angry, breathe deep and know the Spirit is within you.
This is where Spirit resides.
In the moment.
Here and now.
Within and infused in all.
It is the peace that we seek, the hope we long for, and the love we search for and is as near as your breath.
Reconnect with Spirit by seeing all of life as a reflection of God, being guided by Spirit in the Way of Jesus with love and compassion for others, drawing us to once again experience life with awe and wonder.
Allow the Spirit of gentleness to open your heart, imbue your consciousness, and guide your actions inviting hope, love, joy, and inner peace to enter your life.
Be sure to join us on the night of the summer solstice, June 21, to walk the labyrinth, to awaken the Spirit, renew your Mind, and ignite your Soul.
Check in next week for further details.
Until then my friends breathe deep the Spirit of God as each breath is a breath of Spirit and a gift we share with all our relations united as One.
One Breath, One Heartbeat, One Song.
Many blessings and love, Sharon.
