A few years ago I offered a class called The Wild Goose. And while the title caught people's attention, I lost track of the number of times I was asked "Why is it called 'The Wild Goose?'"
The Wild Goose is a wonderful series and ministry that helps people understand how the Holy Spirit manifests in their lives. The term itself comes from ancient Celts, who used it to represent the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is wild, passionate, courageous, and noisy. It can not be contained or tamed. The Holy Spirit is also creative, surprising, spontaneous in its work, which is unpredictable but has a purpose.
If you allow, the Holy Spirit will lead you on an adventure greater than you can imagine and the two of you can do more for the kingdom of God than you could ever imagine on your own. The Spirit will lead you to a place of mercy, healing, and peace for yourself and for others through you.
What I do not understand are those who try to tame or control the Spirit. How? By believing and/or telling others that the Spirit only works one way, or only works through the leaders of the Church, or only inspires us to participate in one form of prayer or worship.
The Holy Spirit, the third person of the blessed Trinity, will lead all of us into the Heart of God. By developing a relationship with the person of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit will lead us to experience God's presence and power, to be transformed, and bring us freedom.
As baptized and confirmed followers of Christ, we are gifted with the many charisms of the Holy Spirit which can be found throughout the New Testament. If we believe that Christ gifted his apostles with the gifts of healing, mercy, prophecy, leadership, pastoring, service, knowledge, wisdom, and many other gifts, in order to "go make disciples", then we must believe that he still offers these many gifts today to his followers. Gifts that empower us to be channels of God's love, God's truth, God's goodness, God's mercy, etc. to others.
God calls us to be the Body of Christ that does not restrain the Spirit but rather embraces its RESTLESS and WILD nature. As we celebrate Pentecost this coming Sunday, I pray that you will encounter the Holy Spirit and that the Spirit will breathe life into your very being. I pray that you can say "Come on Holy Spirit!" and open yourself to the amazing adventure the "Wild Goose" will take you on as you answer Christ's call to Go Make Disciples!
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