heart about hisfather’s death.These areexperiences ofSpirit.

People we lovedie or move awayand we miss themterribly becausethey have touchedus—held ourhands, kissed usgood-bye every

morning, hugged hello andcongratulations. Yearning to betogether again is an experience ofSpirit. We know the Spirit in thequestions our minds can’t put torest—Why evil? Why good? Whybother?

L ike air, Spirit invisiblysurrounds us and gives us lifewithin. We live, move, and

have our being in the unseen, life-giving embrace of the Spirit of God.We experience the Spirit of God inour being alive and in the gift ofothers being alive.

Yet, we numb our feelings, andpay little attention to our joy,disgust, yearning, or any otherfeelings and experiences.Spirituality is learning that the Spiritstirs in each of us—in our prayers,in our hopes, in our fears, in thepeaks and pits of our lives.

MOVING in theSPIRIT 3

O GOD,you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit and when I stand. Where can I go from your spirit?

TheSpiritStirsin Us

If I take the wings of morning andsettle at the farthest reaches of thesea, even there your hand will leadme, and your right hand hold me fast.

You knit me together in my mother’swomb. I praise you that I am soawesomely and wonderfully made.

Psalm 139

SPIRITUALITY

Psalm 139 tells us there isnowhere we can go thatGod is not. We can runneither to the ends of theearth nor deep within ourselves.The whole of creation and each ofus ourselves are from God and inGod.

The God of our Christian faithis not an old man who workedhard for six days long ago and faraway and retired to a condo in suncountry. We understand God isthree persons in one divine nature.The three persons are always inrelationship—the Father begettingthe Son, the Son wholly reflectingthe Father, the Spirit the living lovebetween them. The Spirit is thename we give to the here and nowpresence of God in all that lives inus and in our world.

We are awesomely made so thatwe are able to be in touch withGod and can respond to God’sSpirit. We can find the Spiritpresent in every event of ourlives—every joy, sorrow, doubt,conflict, success, friendship.

The world we see, hear, taste,smell, and touch reveals God’screative, life-giving love.Seeing the enormous sizeof redwoods moves us toawe. A grandparenttakes our arm and wefeel closeness. A friendsings a song from his

�When haveyou experiencedGod’s presencewith you?

Poferl

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St. Catherine University Photo Bureau

� When have youexperienced yourself alive,powerful, or part of a whole?

that rumbled out of my sax andfilled the room with the slow,lazy roll of “Ole Man River.” Myfingers chased the melody upthe scale, climbed down to theseesawing rhythm of liftingcotton, and slid an octave downas the laborer gets drunk andgoes to jail. I pulled in air andswelled the melody, windingonward like the river rolling,climbing one octave, two, andbeyond to the highest notes myhorn could make. No squeaks. Igot a first from the judge buteven better, the music came notjust from my horn but frominside me.

Michael

I am running.The wind blowscoolly on my faceas my legs move ineasy rhythm. Insideme everythingbegins disappearing.I leave my thoughtsand worries behind.

The food I ate is gone. I feel light.Blood is running in the body theway it should. I could go onforever without any effort.

Bob

Ask the beastsand they will teach you;the birds of the air,and they will tell you;ask the plants of theearthand they will teach you;and the fish of the seawill declare to you.Who among these does not knowthat the hand of Godhas done this?In God’s hand is the lifeof every living thing,and the breath of every living being.

Job 12.7-10

I waited for the stage door toopen and devour me as it hadall the other musicians aheadof me at the state musiccompetition. But when the dooropened, I walked on stage, took adeep breath, blew a mellow low C

In Myself

The Summer DayWho made the world?Who made the swan, and the black bear?Who made the grasshopper?This grasshopper, I mean—the one who has flung herself out of the grass,the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down—who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.I do know how to pay attention, how to fall downinto the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,which is what I have been doing all day.Tell me, what else should I have done?Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?Tell me, what is it you plan to dowith your one wild and precious life?

Mary Oliver, House of Light *

The poems and stories on these pages describe experiences of the presence ofGod’s Spirit in all that is and especially in our human spirits. Read them. Theseexperiences invite you to recognize your own experiences of God’s Spirit.

� What experiences ofawe or oneness withnature have you had—a natural high or peakfeeling? Whatexperiences of the ruinof nature—a feeling ofanger or disgust?

*House of Light by Mary Oliver. Copyright © 1990 by Mary Oliver Reprinted by permission of Beacon Press, Boston

In Nature

Where Do I Recognize the SPIRIT?istockphoto: Jill Lang

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We experience the Spirit notonly in creation and inourselves but in relationships.Friends pull us out of ourselveswhen we worry about how theyare. Friends help us laugh atourselves when we are too sure ortoo unsure. When friends listento our foolish fears, the fearsoften go away.

When we miss a friend whomoves, we experience the Spirit inour desire for friendships that last.

When a parent accepts us or afriend sticks by us, the Spirittouches us in the power offriendship and acceptance.

When we meet a person whotells us we don’t need to show off,we experience the Spirit in a callto be ourselves.

When we feel alone oralienated from someonewho once shared ourfeelings, we experienceemptiness but also perhapsopenness to more in ourlives.

In all these experiences theSpirit is as close to us orcloser than we are toourselves. The Spirit is presentin our relationships, drawing usinto the love and union that is theinner life in God.

Nothing in our lives is apartfrom the Spirit. The Spirit is inus, deeper than despair andhigher than our best dreams. Inyearning for more, the Spirit is

there. In delighting in friendship,the Spirit is there. The Spiritknows who we are even when wedon’t.

Sarah and I went to grade andhigh school together. In highschool Sarah found her niche witha group that she met by working inthe fall play. Eventually I grew sickof the typical adolescent malelunchroom behavior and found myway to Sarah’s new group.

Sophomore year we sang in thechoir and music ministry andworked on the school musicaltogether. We talked about the latestmovies, books, and who I was goingto ask to the Homecoming Dance. Italked in confidence to herabout problems at homeand school.

That summer we bothgot jobs. Then came thedreadful news. Sarah had aboyfriend. We driftedapart. She had dated otherboyfriends before. Whenthis relationship lasted, Igot used to life without herand became great friends

with Sarah’s friends until Sarahasked me to help her get back inthe social loop. I welcomed herrenewed friendship but what shereally wanted were the friendships Ihad strengthened during the timeshe let them deteriorate.

I didn’t want to give up on afriendship that existed before Icould spell my name, but when shewanted me to help her boyfriendmake new friends, I got annoyed.We argued on the phone. I hung upon her, then called back. She hungup on me, saying, “I want you outof my life.” I was broken.

Time had made us great friends,so I thought time would heal thewound, but months of nottalking turned into years. I felt theball was in her court. I hated her. Ipitied her. I still loved her. Thenon the first day of seniorphilosophy I found Sarah in myclass. I felt uneasy. We exchangedglances. Maybe something wouldhappen.

Tonight I answered anunexpected ring at my door. I letsomeone in who had hurt me.Accepting Sarah’s apology andapologizing for myself seemed todissolve all the anguish that I hadclung to. Nothing in our friendshipwill be as great as before, but atleast it will not be as bad as it was.Now because I’ve known betrayal, Iknow forgiving is liberating.

Jeff

� In what experiencesof relationships haveyou found the Spirit?

� What moments of break-ups andpainful separation have you had?What is their meaning for you?

In Relationships

“Out of My Life”

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Reflect on a spiritual experience you have had

in your life. Think of an experience that you often remember and reflect on, or an

experience that you know changed you—a move, a divorce, a death,

a challenge.

Do I like the direction in which I’m going?

Is my direction the way of a Christian?

W

here Am I Going?

Wha

tw

asm

ylif

e like before?

My spiritual experience

What did I gain?What did I lose?

What was my

lifelike

after?

Nihil Obstat: J. Michael Byron Imprimatur: +Harry J. Flynn, Archbishop of St. Paul-Minneapolis, April 10, 2007. Copyright © 2014, by Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, 1884 Randolph Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55105. All rights reserved.Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writingfrom the publisher. ISBN 1-885996-35-7.

Just showing up at Camp Mak-A-Dream in northwesternMontana takes a leap of faith.The camp creates a community thatwelcomes and supports young cancersurvivors and encourages them to dothings beyond their comfort zones.

Zach, a young man from my cabin,was diagnosed with a brain tumor justafter he got his full ride scholarship toplay college football. He had surgery,chemo, radiation. He lost hisscholarship, his fitness, his short-termmemory, his sense of balance, hisconfident social manner, and one ofthe best years of his life. Because ofside effects, he postponed college andhad been house-bound for most of theyear before he came to camp. Heknew he needed to participate in life.He started by coming to camp.

At first camp overwhelmed him—the number of new faces with nameshe couldn’t remember, the newlandscape of the campus, which hismemory could not absorb. He feltwobbly and tired. The first day heslept a lot in part because he was tiredand in part to remain in the safety of a

cabin where he couldn’t get lost. Ibrought him his meals.

On the second day, he came withme to lunch. All welcomed him andmade sure their nametags were alwaysvisible. They introduced themselvesagain and again and accompanied himaround the campus, giving himdirections and letting him lean onthem for balance.

Some campers had hiked to thetop of the butte that morning and toldZach about the climb.

“I have got to get up there. I’d likeit if you would help me,” he told me.

I must admit, I wasn’t sure he couldmake it. Walking across campus worehim out, but I agreed to help.

Zach looked me in the eyes. “Wecan do this,” he said. “It will bechallenging. I can’t wait.” He smiled.

Two days later, after some practicewalking uphill over open ground, hewas ready. We decided to get extrarest that night, get up early, grab somebreakfast, and head for the top. Someof our cabin mates joined us.

Zach made it to the top. He neverfell, but he leaned heavily on a

number of us. When we offered theoption of turning back, he simplysmiled and looked at the top. Heaccepted our offers of rest and drinkand support. At the base of the lastand most difficult section of the climb,he stopped, his arm around myshoulder, his breathing deep andhungry.

“I’ll do this alone,” he said.

We stood for some minutes untilhe started up the rise. Ifollowed him, very slowly, all theway to the top. He whooped andhollered and hugged and thankedevery one of us in turn. He wasintensely happy and absolutely alive. Ittook him a full day to recoverphysically, but he was a different manfrom then on---secure in the support ofthose around him, content withhimself, confident, resurrected.

We were all blessed beyond ourefforts. I learned later that Zachrelapsed after camp and died twoweeks later. There has been anotherascension and another resurrection forZach. Greg Neis

In Relationships

� What breakthrough momentsin relationships have helpedyou recognize who you are?