Mark 3: 23-30 
 I assure you that human beings will be forgiven for everything, for all sins and insults of every kind. 
But whoever insults the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. That person is guilty of a sin with consequences that last forever.” 
He said this because the legal experts were saying, “He’s possessed by an evil spirit.”

When I read these words I wonder, “but how do I know the Holy Spirit when I see it?!” It seemed as if the legal experts from Jerusalem weren’t able to know the work of God from an evil spirit. How do we discern in our own experiences where it is that God is working? How do we know when we are responding to the Spirit and not to our own wants and needs? How do we see the Spirit of God in one another? Even when it’s different that our own experience of God?

One of the pieces that might have tipped off the legal  experts of Jesus’ day and might be a good indication in our own is to pay attention to what Jesus was up to. His words and actions, his ministry and interactions with others resulted in health and healing. Someone touches Jesus or asks for a prayer or word of comfort and they experience new life, healing where the was only brokenness and afflictions. Jesus words inspired and encouraged the sick and forgotten. It’s worth paying attention to the news that wherever Jesus went he seemed to leave a wake of healing behind him.

When we can’t find our way or are caught up in the day-to-day chaos of our lives its sometimes difficult to discern what gives us life and what is sucking us dry. But the work of the Spirit often points us in the direction of life. Can you remember a time when you realized that a task at hand seemed to be draining the life from you? And when have you experienced a swelling up of life, of  joy, of energy? Was the Spirit at work? We are presented with a multitude of choices on a daily basis. We are overwhelmed with options of how to spend our time and resources. Today’s text invites us to dig deep and to ask ourselves, “is this life-giving? Or is it life sucking? Is the Holy Spirit at work here?” Don’t be surprised if she turns up in unexpected places!

May the Holy Spirit reveal herself to you today,
May your head and heart be open to her invitation and
May you move in the direction that God is calling you.
May you’re own experience of the Spirit give you life and
When you encounter the Spirit working in another may you celebrate
Knowing that we each encounter the Spirit according to our own need.
And that is what makes for a wonderfully diverse and curious world!
AMEN

Peace,
Shawna

Musical Meditation