Blog 578 – 03.21.2017

Inspire

It always tickles me when some one comments on one of my blogs that they thought it touching or inspired. The word inspire comes from the Latin and means literally something liked “breathed in” very like the creation story in the Bible, “And God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and he became a living soul.” Change the prefix  and you get transpire – across the breath, and expire – stop breathing. Language is such a fascinating thing and words are symbols for the pictures in our minds. But whence come those pictures and from where comes the wind, the breath of life, our inspiration. Deep inside us we know the answer to that question for deep inside us is the sure and certain knowledge of Who and Whose we truly are.

Spirit comes from that same Latin root and means breath or wind. Spirit is one of the three parts of the trinity that describes God – God the Parent, God the Child and God the Spirit. Some may not like that I said parent instead of father, child insted of son, or that I left holy off spirit. To me holy means whole, more than perfect or special. The concept of Trinity is a somewhat mind boggling one that God could be wholly God, wholly Man, and wholly Spirit at the same time is pretty tough to get your head around but then “God is all in all”  and that is a pretty awesome concept especially when you consider that all includes each and everyone of us. Woa, Daddy.

Since Daddy does the breathing, the thinking, the saying, and the doing for us that doesn’t leave a lot for us to worry about, boast about, argue about or fight about. Really just a, “Thank you” will do. And as I saw in a great Western movie recently starring Henry Fonda where he gives a pony to a young half Indian/half white boy who is so happy and excited that he rides off without saying thank you. The mom tries to apologize for her son failing to say thank you and Henry Fonda’s character says, “The boy’s smile said that pretty loud don’t you think?”
Our Perfect Parent derives pleasure not from praise or thanks but from the joy of His/Her children. Not just Jesus but we his brothers and sisters are that third link in the One, the Whole. Love is always in relationship.

And here I was trying to write something inspiring and not just some theological mumbo jumbo. Did you know that some islanders once thought God’s name was Mumbo Jumbo and that He required that they throw pretty young virgins into a firey volcano to appease His wrath. People have believed a lot of lies on God. This wrath thing for one. I like how in the movie, The Shack, when Papa, God, is confronted about wrath that She says, “I don’t know what you are talking about.” So much for mumbo jumbo. God is Love, always was, and always will be. And that, my friends, is pretty inspiring.

Your friend and fellow traveler,
David White