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    In last Sunday's meditation on the Ascension of Jesus, we noted that before Jesus ascended into Heaven to be with the Father that He told the disciples to "stay in the city, until you are clothed with the power from on high" (Luke 24:49b).

    On this Pentecost Sunday we see that the disciples are clothed with the power from on high - we see with the above verse that the disciples are clothed with the filling of the Holy Spirit - the power from on high.

    The Holy Spirit is probably the most forgotten or neglected aspect of our faith today and yet it is most vital to the living out our Christian faith; for He is God with us here and now!  For the Holy Spirit, which is personalized with the pronoun "HE", is nothing less than the presence of God the Father and Jesus the Ascended Son with us in every part of our lives, helping us as we make our way in life.  We received the Holy Spirit when we were baptized, whether infant or adult baptism, for such is the grace of God that being baptized in His Name, the Father freely gives of Himself without reservation.  It is a gracious God we worship and serve!

     Without a deep theological discussion on the Holy Spirit let me illustrate two qualities of The Spirit, namely the Presence of the Spirit with us and the Spirit as Helper as I have referred to above.

    The Holy Spirit as a Presence.  A 3-year-old told his mother that he had Jesus in his heart.  The mother replied that this made her happy to know that he loved Jesus like her and his dad.  Does daddy really have Jesus in his heart?  Of course he does mom said.  To which the boy said that he thought so.  The boy then said to his mother that he wished Jesus was in her heart too.  She wondered what she said or had done to make him think she wasn't a Christian.  She then asked him why he thought Jesus wasn't in her heart.  His big brown eyes shifted to mom's abdomen, then in her 8th month of pregnancy.  He said "Well mom. that baby's getting so big, there's no room for anyone else in there."  There is always room for the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life!

    The Holy Spirit as Helper. Helper means 'one called alongside" as the Holy Spirit is with us.  Jackie Robinson was the first black to play in major league baseball.  Breaking baseball's colour barrier, he face jeering crowds in every stadium.  While playing one day in his home stadium in Brooklyn, he committed an error.  The fans began to boo and ridicule him.  As he stood at second base all alone, the shortstop Pee Wee Reese came over, stood next to Jackie, put his arms around him and together they faced the crowd.  The fans grew quiet so as to hear a pin drop.  Pee Wee Reese was indeed a helper for Jackie Robinson.

    So too, the Holy Spirit is our Helper, who comes and stands and walks with us in ways we perhaps will never know, especially in these COVID-19 days.

   May you know of the presence of the Holy Spirit right now in your life, and that He helps, walks alongside of you,  every day and in every way in your life and faith journey.

    Together with you in the Holy Spirit,

                               Rev.  Wayne