the language of the spirit

"Unless you receive the kingdom of God like a child..."

Praise is the language of the Spirit.
Praise is the expression of joy, gratitude and wonder.
Children speak this language almost innately.
Adults must enter into the difficult labor
of learning this new language.

"It is he that has made us, and not we ourselves..."

We master the language of the Spirit
as we abandon our pride,
remembering that we are creatures,
that the Lord has formed us and breathed into us
the breath of life.
Gradually we learn to "let go and let God",
we find ourselves, in the words of Charles Wesley,
"lost in wonder, love and praise".

"Let everything that breathes praise the Lord..."

We enter into this season of the Spirit
as we receive the gifts of God,
as we are filled with the breath of God.
And in the process we discover
that we are learning a new language,
the language of the Spirit,
the language of praise.
To speak the language of Pentecost
is to be converted to the belief
that God's love is for all people,
that in Christ there is no east or west,
that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither slave nor free,
there is neither male nor female.
The language of the Spirit teaches us
that we are One in Christ Jesus.

khc

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The cd that Ed Kilbourne and I put together is now available. It is entitled Waves: An Audio Companion for Spiritual Direction, and includes his music and my teaching on spiritual gifts. Send me an e-mail at kcarter@providenceumc.org, and I will put aside a copy for you at the Providence UMC welcome center. I can also arrange to mail one to you, if you live some distance away. It is a free gift to those who want it, or want to pass it along to others.