Spirit Language

What language shall I borrow?

What language shall I borrow to thank thee, dearest friend,

For this thy dying sorrow, thy pity without end?

O make me thine forever; and should I fainting be,

Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to thee.

-“O Sacred Head Now Wounded,” verse 3

We learn our first language as the first words are spoken to us, and we hear them even before we understand what they mean. Every other language that we learn, then, becomes a borrowed one. 

Shortly before Jesus and his disciples entered Jerusalem to meet the Cross, he gently told them that God would be sending them a Comforter, an Advocate, the Spirit of Truth.  That Spirit would be a teacher – it would teach them all things and bring to their remembrance all that Jesus had said to them. (John 14:26)  

This, then, was going to be a new language.  It would need to be learned, this new language of the Holy Spirit.  They would have to pay attention, to listen closely, to haltingly learn those first words whose language is God language.

The Spirit language breathes in us... 

How shall we learn this new language? 

                  -in the quietness of a listening heart as we pray…

   -in the inspiration of music or word or art…

      -in observing peacemakers and servants…

-in the longing for divine presence…

   -in the stories of saintly people…

      -in letting go of our certainty so that we might learn…

-in learning to love for the sake of the other…

-in falling in love with Jesus all over again because we need to.

Love, joy, peace, mercy, forgiveness, gratitude, friendship: Spirit language

~Martha Hendricks.