Sailing

I used to live on a sailboat a long long time ago. My favorite moment in sailing was when we could cut the engine and let the wind do its thing. The first step is hoisting the sails. In order to do this you have to point the boat directly into the wind or else the sails will just be wild, unmanageable, and virtually impossible to lift. Once the mainsail is raised, one gentle turn of the rudder, the sail catches the wind, and the boat begins to move. Before this gentle turn, the sail was a flopping, whipping about, noisy kind of mess. After the sail catches the wind, it becomes full, graceful, and quiet. This leaning into the wind moves the vessel through the water graciously and purposefully and depending on the strength of the wind, fast or slow. This bringing the boat through the wind is called a tack and when it’s time, the boat must turn the other way, to allow the wind to catch the other side of the sail or else the boat won’t move forward and it will just keep going right or left. Wind is often wild, powerful, and cannot be fully contained, however, cooperating with its wildness and its power allows for a beautiful infilling that moves us forward, propels us through the standstills, and quiets the noise that make things seem unmanageable. A gentle leaning into here and there catches the grace needed to sail. We first start by knowing the direction of the wind, and facing it head on so that we can lift our wind catcher. For me our wind catchers are our gifts, our faith, our hunger for more, our desire to be free, our need for a savior, our worship, our belovedness, and our time in his presence. I have to orient all of these directly into the Holy Spirit and once I am pointed there I can lift them up ready to sail. I could simply sit there facing the wind and I won’t move at all or I can lean into it and let it fill my wind catcher so that I can soar. Every now and then I will need to change direction or else I will get stuck in a rut. The wind loves the dance of the tacking back and forth, the faster and slower, the gentle and wild, because it says that I trust in its energy. 

In today’s gospel Jesus tells that he will give us the wind to sail. “When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And you will also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning. I have told you this so that you may no fall away.” I know I’m being a bit whimsical with this whole sailing image, however, I do believe that whimsy is one of the qualities of the Holy Spirit and perhaps a good reminder for us to let that sense of wonder fill us to be able to dream big with Jesus today. When our wind catchers are raised up, ready to receive the Spirit sent by the Father and the Son, we will navigate through seasons of rough waters and seasons of smooth sailing. It is our infilling with this Holy Spirit, which is the love between the Father and the Son, that allows us to ride the ebb and flow of a world in need of grace. Leaning into the breath of God fills us with what we need to soar. I pray that we allow the wind to fill our sails today. Raise up your gifts, your worship, your heart, your faith, your hope, and let them catch the Holy Spirit so that your very life will testify to love.  It is well with my soul. 

Reading 1 ACTS 16:11-15

We set sail from Troas, making a straight run for Samothrace,
and on the next day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi,
a leading city in that district of Macedonia and a Roman colony.
We spent some time in that city.
On the sabbath we went outside the city gate along the river
where we thought there would be a place of prayer.
We sat and spoke with the women who had gathered there.
One of them, a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth,
from the city of Thyatira, a worshiper of God, listened,
and the Lord opened her heart to pay attention
to what Paul was saying.
After she and her household had been baptized,
she offered us an invitation,
"If you consider me a believer in the Lord,
come and stay at my home," and she prevailed on us.

Responsorial Psalm PS 149:1B-2, 3-4, 5-6A AND 9B

R. (see 4a) The Lord takes delight in his people.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Sing to the LORD a new song
of praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Let Israel be glad in their maker,
let the children of Zion rejoice in their king.
R. The Lord takes delight in his people.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Let them praise his name in the festive dance,
let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp.
For the LORD loves his people,
and he adorns the lowly with victory.
R. The Lord takes delight in his people.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Let the faithful exult in glory;
let them sing for joy upon their couches.
Let the high praises of God be in their throats.
This is the glory of all his faithful. Alleluia.
R. The Lord takes delight in his people.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Alleluia JN 15:26B, 27A

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Spirit of truth will testify to me, says the Lord,
and you also will testify.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel JN 15:26—16:4A

Jesus said to his disciples: 
"When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father,
the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father,
he will testify to me.
And you also testify,
because you have been with me from the beginning.

"I have told you this so that you may not fall away.
They will expel you from the synagogues;
in fact, the hour is coming when everyone who kills you
will think he is offering worship to God.
They will do this because they have not known either the Father or me.
I have told you this so that when their hour comes
you may remember that I told you."