Kendra Baird's paintingWe had Holy Spirit day today. It was a slow start. I fell asleep during the TWO video lectures in the morning, an inauspicious beginning for sure. But, I went on a gorgeous walk with the lady from Montreal in my group and talked about the numerous parallels our very different lives have. We had way too much food, which depressed me because I knew how much it cost. However, a guy took the leftovers sans vegetable tray to the Men's Shelter. So, that was a good ending.
The awesome part of the day came after lunch: the hour and a half of prayer time. There was 45 minutes of soaking prayer and 45 minutes of intercessory prayer. I was on the receiving end of the soaking prayer, which was much needed. Then, Joy and I went around and prayed for all the women in the room. We asked them what they wanted to pray and then we took turns praying over them. (Someone referred to us as the minimalist team because we were few in words. I don't think it was a complaint rather a comparison.) It was an amazing blessing to pray with these women. I was overwhelmed by how much God loves each of us and struck by his design of our souls and lives. I guess we were a group of normal (boring?) people, but praying makes you aware of a much bigger and deeper story of which we're all a part. Our lives are not our own-- they belong to God and to each other. Talking about gifts of the Spirit brought home how God blesses individuals in order to bless the church. Being surrounded by these fellow course members was encouraging despite the lack of fireworks and feats of wonder. It was a lovely day; I'm glad I came. It provided some context. To quote Rowan Williams, we're all being "unmade in order to be remade" and the "goal of a Christian life is not enlightenment but wholeness."
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