COMMENTARY
When I was a little girl, around 3-4 years old, I didn’t have an imaginary friend. I had God the Father. As the youngest of five children, the house felt empty when my siblings had headed off to school. I would chatter away to the Father all day long, and he was always the guest of honor at my numerous tea parties. He was never too busy to listen to me and was patient and understanding. Perhaps because of my early relationship with him, I’ve always felt closest to the Father of the three Persons in the Holy Trinity.
As for Jesus, God the Son, he is also known as our brother. Well, I had my own earthly brother, 11-years older than me, and he delighted in teasing me, so I wasn’t as interested in having another brother in Jesus. It took a few more years for me to truly understand and appreciate what Jesus had done for me and to develop a closer relationship with him.
I confess, the most difficult Person of the Holy Trinity for me to relate to has been the Holy Spirit. He is depicted as a dove or a flame and we know that he’s with each of us through our Baptism and Confirmation, but there aren’t as many stories about him. How do we relate to a Spirit? A mist? A breath? Some Protestants know him as the Holy Ghost, but to the vast majority of us, ghosts are spooky creatures from trapped souls and that doesn’t fit God the Holy Spirit either.
It’s taken me over half a century of living, but I’ve had a revelation during the past few years that the Holy Spirit is the voice inside my head, guiding me. When I pray about whether I should do something, he’s that strong sense of rightness when I think about a particular option and I know that’s what God wants me to do. He’s also quite persistent on occasion, nudging me to do something that hadn’t even occurred to me to do.
For example, there was a couple who were my good friends. The dad died suddenly during a scuba diving accident, leaving behind the mom and their teenage son. Over the next weeks and months, I’d be outside, watering the plants in my yard, and the idea of calling her would pop into my head. I’d pull some weeds and do more yardwork, and the idea would come again. Finally, after three times, I’d give in and call her, only to have her tell me, “I’m so glad you called! I was feeling down and really needed someone to talk to.” The Holy Spirit knew that, and I was the person he called upon to help her.
In our busy lives, rushing here and there, with our electronic devices in our hands most of the time when we get a little down time, I think it’s gotten more difficult for the Holy Spirit to get our attention. It’s up to us to listen for his quiet whisper in our lives.
While I often offer up a quick little prayer to God without specifying which Person I’m speaking to, like “Thank you, God!” when I narrowly miss getting hit by a car, during my quieter prayer times, I try to be more mindful of the different Persons involved. Although they share a Divine Nature, they are individuals. I find that my faith is richer by having a personal relationship with each Person in the Holy Trinity.
Carol Kwan is a parishioner at Holy Family Parish in Honolulu.
