Page 85 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 22
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Spirit we par�cipate in Christ communica�ng There is absolutely no violence in God. That is
with the Father. why, the gi�s and charisms need to be asked
for.
There are many different gi�s, which besides A prophe�c word, as in the example described
transforming one’s life, have the power to in the ar�cle, is by no means a way of God im-
connect one person with another, as it happens posing anything on the people involved in the
within the Holy Trinity. Definitely, God cheris- situa�on. The word is given to make space for
hes diversity as an expression of life, a realm of experiencing love. We all know that love can-
countless possibili�es. If there are many possi- not be experienced when we try to force it on
bili�es, there will also be coincidences. Yet, ran- somebody. The ministry of the gi�s of the Holy
domness does not contradict the communica�- Spirit is like a magnifying glass that is meant to
on of love taking place. It appears a necessary help you focus on the One who loves you. It is
space for streaming freedom. This communica- up to you, or rather to your image of God, whe-
�on, however, due to some maladap�ve me- ther you let yourself experience love the way it
chanisms developed by being deprived of true comes or not. It seems crucial to be free of any
love, can - to a great extent - be distorted. scenario and try not to limit God to our narrow
percep�on.
The author of the ar�cle believes that in God
we live, and move, and have our being (Acts 17: As humans we tend to a�ribute to God our hu-
28). Being immersed in God, we are meant to man traits, which might be a way of making
radiate his life to others. This, however, does God somewhat closer to us, but most o�en it
not happen automa�cally. We need to say ‘Yes’ does more harm than good. Since our experi-
to God to par�cipate in his loving our brothers ence of rela�onships with other people is o�en
and sisters. It is supposed to be our conscious marked by rejec�on and abandonment, we
choice, the choice of trust in God’s unceasing project it onto God. As a result, we do not trust
care and compassion. that God is willing to take care of us in every li�-
Our faith, by gran�ng us access to God’s love, le thing we deal with and we do not believe
makes us par�cipate in his healing power and that he does so through other people, and neit-
thus lets us experience it being passed on to her by touching our own hearts and minds. Be-
those who crave for love (intercessory prayer). cause of the antropomorphisa�on of God we
do have a huge problem with the mystery of
Since we are vulnerable, we tend to see love as the Incarna�on of God. It is so hard to see God
an expression of our own effort and take credit permeate everything and at the same �me
for God’s work. Forge�ng that God is the ul�- remain separate as a person. It is also next to
mate source of our existence, we fall into a trap impossible to see ourselves as being God by to-
and wrongly think that we are not connected tal immersion in him and simultaneously pre-
with each other, either. Such a belief leads us to serve our iden�ty. It seems that it is a big chal-
living a life of loneliness and full of despair. lenge to give up a�ribu�ng our thoughts, intui-
�ons, convic�ons, percep�ons to God. The aut-
Another important issue brought up in the ar- hor of the ar�cle emphasises the above by ad-
�cle that can help us see God’s presence and mi�ng that he himself at some point of his mi-
ac�on, are experiences which transcend our nistry realised that God was much greater than
human cogni�on. The author refers to situa�- anything he could imagine and that his sense of
ons in which we ask God for specific things that iden�ty came from being loved rather than
other people do not know of. It would be illogi- from his ministry alone.
cal, to say the least, if God – whose essence is
love – did not reveal himself in every aspect of As life unfolds, we are exposed to various situa-
everyday life. �ons. All depends on the way we perceive
Moreover, it seems that God gives himself to us them and respond to them. This is influenced
not by force, but by respec�ng our freedom. by our mentality, beliefs, convic�ons, social and
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