{"id":10,"date":"2010-05-18T08:48:00","date_gmt":"2010-05-18T08:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/thinplaces\/2010\/05\/pentecost-how-is-the-holy-spirit-at-work.html"},"modified":"2010-05-18T08:48:00","modified_gmt":"2010-05-18T08:48:00","slug":"pentecost-how-is-the-holy-spirit-at-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/2010\/05\/pentecost-how-is-the-holy-spirit-at-work.html","title":{"rendered":"Pentecost: How is the Holy Spirit at Work?"},"content":{"rendered":"
I was recently asked to write, in 100 words or less, an answer to the question: “How is the Holy Spirit at work in the world today?” Tough assignment, but here’s what I came up with:<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In nudges and whispers.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

Like a seed growing, imperceptible at first. Like wind, invisible, refreshing, transformative. Like water, cleansing, renewing, powerful.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

Unpredictably. Uncontrollably.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

Praying: for us, with us, in us, through us.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

Convicting, like a judge in a courtroom. Comforting, like a mother with a frightened child in the middle of the night.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

We know her work by experiencing it. She will not be pinned down, can only be described with analogies.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

But wherever there is forgiveness, redemption, reconciliation, grace, she leaves her fingerprints.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

Always the one connecting, making us into the Body of Christ, God’s hands in the world.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

To read more responses, click here<\/a>. (Incidentally, my favorite is the first one by Monica Coleman.) And, as always, feel free to share your own thoughts. As we enter the Christian season of Pentecost (see Acts 2<\/a>), where is the Spirit at work? Where does the Spirit seem absent? Do you see her fingerprints in the world today?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was recently asked to write, in 100 words or less, an answer to the question: “How is the Holy Spirit at work in the world today?” Tough assignment, but here’s what I came up with: In nudges and whispers. Like a seed growing, imperceptible at first. Like wind, invisible, refreshing, transformative. Like water, cleansing,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-down-syndrome"],"yoast_head":"\nPentecost: How is the Holy Spirit at Work? - Thin Places<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/2010\/05\/pentecost-how-is-the-holy-spirit-at-work.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pentecost: How is the Holy Spirit at Work? - Thin Places\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I was recently asked to write, in 100 words or less, an answer to the question: “How is the Holy Spirit at work in the world today?” Tough assignment, but here’s what I came up with: In nudges and whispers. 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Two major life experiences have shaped her writing and her faith\u00e2\u20ac\u201dcaring for her mother-in-law as she battled cancer and welcoming her daughter Penny into the world after she was diagnosed at birth with Down syndrome. Both experiences expanded and enriched her understanding of what it means to be human and to receive each and every person as a gift.\u00c2\u00a0 A graduate of Princeton University and Princeton Theological Seminary, she is the author of Penelope Ayers: A Memoir, and the forthcoming A Good and Perfect Gift (Bethany House). Her essays have appeared in First Things, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Christian Century, ChristianityToday.com, and Bloom, among other online venues.","sameAs":["http:\/\/amyjuliabecker.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/author\/amyjuliabecker"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/88"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}