Let God be who God is. This is often one of the hardest things to do. Rather than allowing the mystery of being created in the image and likeness of God unfold and take root in our lives, we change the dynamic. We want to be the creators who want to make God into the image and likeness we need God to be. We have a hard-enough time letting the people in our lives be who they are. We struggle even more so with God. It is almost as if we want God to be our imaginary friend who is not only with us whenever we need but becomes the Being we need God to be. Who is it that we want God to be today? A protector, disciplinarian, champion for justice, healer, advocate for our cause, grantor of prayers, guardian of my life, or the avenger? Our prayers tell an interesting story. When you pray, what does God look like?

The book of Acts unpacks the events immediately following Jesus’ ascension into heaven. The Apostles and other disciples were told to pray in Jerusalem and await another outpouring of the Holy Spirit. As the weeks ticked on, the Jewish Festival of Weeks approached. This festival took place 50 days after Passover and celebrated the giving of the law on Mount Sinai. The Festival of Weeks (or “Pentecost” in Greek) was a great pilgrimage feast, with Jews from all over the ancient world convening on Jerusalem for the celebration.

“God remains where love remains. When a believer realizes without doubt that God is love, it is a powerful moment. Being able to place our resurrection trust in this fundamental truth allows us to experience God’s presence in all of our experiences: the good and the bad, positive and negative, life enriching and destructive events we encounter. It is no wonder that St. Paul so accurately tells us that it is love that endures all things and lasts. How can God not endure or ever fade away? Because he is God, Jesus also guarded and protected his disciples as the endearing shepherd who always had their best interest at heart.

“Remain in my love,” and, “I call you friends,” are powerful words that are found in John’s Gospel. Most of us probably have them committed to memory or have at least heard them proclaimed dozens of times. They are words that can easily become trite and quickly glossed over without fully pondering and digesting their profound beauty. When we take the time to immerse ourselves in them, they can radically change our lives and our relationships. They can open up new doors of adventure and hold countless possibilities for meaning. The essence of love and friendship are things that can easily be taken for granted. They have always been there and are a significant part of our lives. Many would say that they could not live without love and friendship, and they put a great deal of care into preserving, deepening and sustaining them. Love and friendship share a mutual relationship with each other that deserves more reflection.

"Spiraling out of control," is a phrase that can easily describe the current display of human existence. In addition to the violence, unrest, uneasiness and turmoil that are common elements of our daily news, other essential pieces are misplaced or missing. Many lack an objective center around which to order and structure their lives or a clear set of definable goals or mores to act as guideposts and life directives. It appears that "feelings" have become a "new god" and traditional structures and ideals set aside. It is almost as if history only shows that we got this whole thing wrong and many are determined to finally set things right. The real truth, however, is that while wrongs and errors are certainly a part of our often-checkered past, it is hardly the case that all was wrong. It is not our task to rewrite the history of our lives, but to learn from mistakes that were made, and preserve the perennial wisdom at the root of our successes. Learning is an essential part of being human.