Reflection
by Sharon Connor, Oblate of St. Benedict
The Holy Spirit is my daily guide in preparation to meet our eternal God and the beginning of life on the way to heaven.
Big Job and I am just a little speck on the earth working daily toward the heavenly place God has for me.
My journey, the maze of life has been long, sometimes fun, sometimes sorrowful, but every second has been a learning experience, sometimes holy, or sometimes plodding along the road to my destiny.
I began life knowing nothing and although I learned things, they didn’t seem to fit together. The bumpy path, hardly a road, let me down many dangerous ways, habits and mistakes. If someone said hurtful things to me, I absorbed it like a sponge, and lived up to it. Gods gifts were there too, but I thought they were my gifts and it was up to me to be the one to use them good or bad–for me only.
Years of alcohol abuse muddled my mind and destroyed my family. I lost everything.
There had to be something more.
There had to be something
There had to be an Entity to help me.
Spirituality—let me try that. Things couldn’t get any worse than all the terrible things that I had done in my life.
My first spiritual experience –I heard someone say I could get help if I went to a hospital for treatment. Don’t remember who, where or when.
Second experience–a vision of Christ Jesus standing in my living room while I made the call to treatment. Could I drive? “sure”—not!
Third, I was met at the hospital elevator and told that I didn’t have to hurt like this anymore.
Miracle—yes, later I knew it was the Holy Spirit and I began a new journey, road—still bumpy, but I was not alone.
New ideas evolved very slowly and although I had read about the Holy Ghost and learned my prayers by rote. I didn’t have a clue what they meant. My blessings started small. I didn’t drink for an hour, then a day. I couldn’t have handled anything else. Many years of AA meetings, therapy, study and finally receiving the gift of courage I went back to Church.
and
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Recovery and sobriety working in little things and
Big things started to happen.
New Friends—old ones had to be dismissed
Reacquainted with my birth family—Real life things
Gradually I became closer to a Spirit, and Holy is his name. I experience a knot in my throat, a decision to be made, a prayer said and a miracle happened.
Church became more prominent in my life.
Problem, go pray—Problem solved, get on with life, gradually time shortened between pray and solve. Wow!!!!!
Many places in the bible mention that the Holy Spirit is like a breeze. Soft when gentle is needed, gale force when “Listen to me NOW” was needed (sic)
The most recent physical miracle (You would think I was from Missouri) happened a few years ago. I just purchased my 3rd kindle – Lost it and couldn’t find it anywhere. My husband looked, I looked. One afternoon, just before the trash man came, I felt this huge knot in my stomach and an undeniable urge to go get the trash can and go through it—one more time. We dumped it on the picnic table, and I started digging through it—My yellow kindle fell out on the table. “I found it” didn’t fully reflect my excitement—“oh my God” seemed a little over the top, –but wait—
Problem
Holy Spirit’s-breeze
Knot of uncertainty
Action
And the realization the Holy Spirit really works
Told ya I was a little slow.
Since that time other life problems, family problems, thought problems—If I just give them to God, the Holy Spirit, the gift of working it out is bestowed on me. The issues I have today are easier to turn in to smaller things. If I wait, If I pray, problems will be answered.
Maybe Yes or Maybe No –There is always an answer
Isn’t the Holy Spirit great!