Did you realize that the word "conspire" means . . .

Did you realize that the word “conspire” literally means “to breathe together"?  Take a deep breath.  Now let it out again.  There you go.  You just launched a conspiracy!

We don’t think very often about the air we breathe—except, perhaps, when the smog levels or pollen count are particularly high.  However, contained within this planet’s atmosphere is the same air that humankind has been breathing since the dawn of time.  Chances are that, at some point in your life, you have breathed a few of the very same molecules of air that Abraham breathed, and Moses, and Ruth, and King David, and Isaiah, and even Jesus himself!

In Hebrew the word for “breath” is the same word for “spirit.”  Hence, when God forms us by taking a lump of clay and breathing into it, the idea is that we receive God’s Spirit.  God doesn’t do this with any of the other animals; just with us.  And in a sense, the same thing happens on Pentecost.  God breathes the Holy Spirit into a group of anxious, uncertain disciples and gives life to the church.

Of the three Persons of the Trinity, it’s probably the Holy Spirit that we have the hardest time defining.  Most of us, for example, can at least begin to describe the other two.  First Person: God the Father, creator of heaven and earth, who makes the sun shine and the rain fall, who knows our prayers before we even speak them, who has a running tally of every hair on our heads, and who accompanies us even into the valley of the shadow of death.

Second Person: God the Son, who was human just like us—our savior, teacher, helper, and friend—who reached out with compassion to the sick and included the outcasts, who encouraged us to love even those we don’t particularly like, and who died on a cross after three agonizing hours, so that on Easter we could be given a second chance at life!

But how would you describe the Third Person—God the Holy Spirit?  Even Jesus seemed to have a difficult time with that one.  “The Spirit blows wherever it chooses,” he told Nicodemus.  “You can hear the sound of it, but you have no idea where it comes from or where it is going.”

Still, while it may be hard to describe, it isn’t hard to determine when you are experiencing the Holy Spirit.  It’s like a breath of fresh air suddenly blowing into your life.  For example, if you have ever found yourself speaking with an eloquence that you did not believe you possessed … or taking risks that you did not think you had the courage to attempt … or reaching out to someone you had fully intended to walk away from—then you can be pretty sure that the Holy Spirit is breathing upon you.

Take a deep breath.  Now let it out again.  This is God’s moment-by-moment gift to us.  You can call it ordinary air, if you like.  But since none of us can live long without it, I prefer to think of it as the Holy Spirit—the very breath of God!