The current advertising campaign by the sports drink Gatorade features athletes, famous and not famous, performing extraordinary feats. They are working hard, with sweat flying from their bodies. They are running, throwing, catching, soaring, achieving.
The message that the ad wants to send is that Gatorade contains the fuel that powers this kind of stunning performance. I feel like an athlete just by watching. At the end of the ad the viewer is asked, "Is it in you?"
In today's Gospel reading Jesus tells his followers: "I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows him. But you know him, because he remains with you, and will be in you."
Jesus says that the Spirit of truth will be in us - a presence that those without it cannot detect, but that will never leave those who follow Christ. This passage leads me to ask the same question that the Gatorade ad poses: Is it in me? Do I have this Spirit that enables me to see and know God? How can I tell?
One thing that has always perplexed me about my own life is that I often don't feel a sense of closeness to God. I struggle to understand the purpose of the events and decisions I'm faced with. And there are many times when I've felt very alone. But I've never given up. I keep seeking. Keep looking. Keep hoping for a deeper, richer experience of my faith.
Perhaps all of us who continue to seek God possess this living Spirit. Perhaps asking the question "Is it in me?" is an indication that the answer is "Yes." Why else would we ask? If there wasn't some inner presence yearning for contact with God, pushing us in that direction through the isolation and frustration that we often feel, why would we keep searching?
I suppose the life of faith could be compared to an athletic endeavor. We practice the fundamentals with visions of glory in our minds. We endure hours of struggle for moments of joy. We have setbacks and disappointments. We have transcendent victories. We keep going because we love it.
It seems ironic that the experience of "lostness" and loneliness would be a sign of the presence of the Spirit in our lives. I guess it is equally ironic that images of people pushing themselves to extreme physical exertion would make us want to do the same. I tend to think that the presence of the Spirit would be manifested by ecstatic joy, and blissful intimacy with God.
Of course, sometimes this is the case. The moments of wonder and experiences of blessedness may be the spiritual fuel that keeps us going on our quest to find the deeper union that we're looking for. Bill Peatman writes from Napa.
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