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If you have ever been in the Texas panhandle you know that the wind blows mightily most of the time.  As a priest I knew of one of my brother priests who was walking to the local hospital only to be blown into the "bar ditch" by a strong March wind.  Tornadoes are fierce this time of the year as well.  So it might be difficult to distinguish between the natural forces of the earth and the working of the Holy Spirit.

In June of 1984 it was on a Pentecost Sunday that happened to coincide with the tenth anniversary of my ordination that I experienced the "wind of the Holy Spirit" blow through my life and I have never been the same since.  While participating in a Service of Healing at the Amarillo Convention Center, the Holy Spirit began to work on me and in me and through me as people came forward to be prayed with for healing.  It was the first time that I had experienced people singing in "tongues" and the first time that I had seen persons "rested in the Spirit".  The Holy Spirit took over my life and my hands that day and we began a journey together that continues even to this writing.

This promised "Friend" as Eugene Peterson calls him in the Message, or "Advocate" or "Paraclete" as the Spirit is so often referred to in scripture is Real and is in charge of the Church.  The Father has accomplished the work of creation and continues to allow us to participate in the ongoing creation of the earth.  Jesus the Lord has done a mighty work of Redemption and called us into the Body of Christ as beloved sons and daughters of the Father.  And now the ongoing work of God is being accomplished in the activity of the Spirit which we have all received.  Do you really believe that the Spirit will remind us of all that Jesus did?  Do you really believe that the Spirit will enable us to do what Jesus did?  Do you really trust that the Spirit dwells within you?  Do you have personal evidence of the Spirit's presence?

If ever I doubted the presence of the Holy Spirit, all that was changed on that day in 1984.  I learned of the power and prompting and challenge of the Spirit.  I learned that as Peterson translated it:  "You can count on it. From now on, whatever you request along the lines of who I am and what I am doing, I'll do it."  (John 14:13)  The key is that we act and speak along the lines of who Jesus really is and what Jesus really did. 

Pentecost was indeed the birthday of the Church.  Each and every activity of the Holy Spirit is a celebration of that day and of the immense love of God for his children.  The truth is, we are never alone and we never have to do this journey without the support of our gracious loving God.  Come, Holy Spirit!