Pentecost 5: Hangin On

E heard an unusual amount of bells ringing at the church this morning. I wondered if it was their way of marking life in the Spirit after Pentecost Sunday and Monday.

It's not always as victorious as those bells make it sound. Sometimes it resembles the title the liturgical year gives it: "ordinary time."

Because sometimes the Holy Spirit gives that extraordinary courage, audacity, assurance, confidence, boldness to achieve wonderful things. Other times he's the one thing that just keeps us hanging on. Looks and feels ordinary I guess, but somewhere in there I wonder if it isn't just as extraordinary, just as worthy of ringing the bells.