Spiritual Compass
When one is hiking in the wilderness,
one can know where one is trying to go
and can even know the way,
but without a compass, it is almost certain that
one will get lost somewhere along the way.
When the sun is shinning and the weather is good,
one can manage quite well for awhile
by watching for sort of landmarks along the way,
but eventually, when the weather changes,
without a compass, one is completely lost in the wilderness.
There can be a false sense of security
when one is out hiking in the wilderness:
one can manage without a compass at first;
one can look around and see it is a beautiful day;
then storms come in quite quickly
and without that compass, one is lost.
Much the same is true of life.
As we celebrate Trinity Sunday today,
we consider God the Father is our destination,
and God the Son, Christ Jesus is the way
and God the Holy Spirit is our compass, companion and our.
We are all going to the same place.
I mean, no matter what life choices we make,
we are all going back to the Father.
One thing is for certain is we will all die at some point
and we will all end up back with the Father.
We can take different journeys on that journey of life
but we all end up with the journey back to God.
We, as Christians, choose to live the way of Christ
and we call it a way choosing to live by Christ.
That changes the way we live our life,
the values we have,
the directions we take;
we stay on that narrow path of Christianity.
If we do not have the compass of the Spirit
or we do not listen to the compass of the Spirit,
we will find ourselves equally as lost as
those people who have never chosen the way at all.
It is quite easy to get lost in life
because just like when you are out hiking,
the storms of life can come in on us;
things can happen to us that we have no control over.
We can get sick.
Things can happen to our physical self or even our mental self
and these things can throw us off our path completely.
We don’t know which direction is north, south, east or west
and we rely on the spiritual compass of the Spirit to guide us.
We all know at certain times in our life
we have relied on that compass;
we know exactly what that Spirit of truth tells us
if we listen to it in our own hearts.
Sometimes, we call it our intuition,
our gut, a sense of something;
but you know what I am talking about because we have all,
somewhere along the line,
have experienced this sense where we feel,
“This doesn’t feel like the right thing to do;”
“I don’t think I should do it.”
Or ”This feels really like this is the right thing to do,
even though everyone is telling me not to do it.”
I really believe I should do this.
That is the spirit of truth.
That is our spiritual compass,
making sure we are still going where we ought to go.
Those choices are not easy because
we have to listen to the spirit of truth that is within us.
That is what Christ is talking about in today’s gospel;
the disciples were not ready to hear everything
that he had to tell them.
But he assured them he would send the Spirit of Truth
and that Spirit of Truth would guide them along the way to follow.
We are his new disciples and
we do not know what is in store for our life ahead of us.
There may be turns in that journey
that are going to be difficult and painful.
Maybe we will have to deal with a sick child
for months or maybe even years
or a sick spouse that we had never figured on
and the work and sacrifice that will involve.
There is only one way to guide us and
that spiritual compass keeps us on that very narrow path.
Today’s feast day of the Trinity is not so much about
the doctrine or dogma of the Trinity,
the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
as much about the mystery of how God operates in our life.
God does not operate as an impersonal, disconnected God.
God operates in a very personal way,
as a Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
One that is the way.
We know the direction.
We know where we are going.
We are going back to the Father.
We also know that we have chosen to follow Christ as the way;
we also know we need his help of the Spirit, the Spirit of Truth.
In that relationship, we realize that the way
is choosing to love
because that is what the Trinity is all about,
the exchange of love between the Father, Son and Spirit.
It is not easy to listen to the Spirit.
It is not easy to listen to that compass
and stay on the journey but that is what we are called to do.
That is what we celebrate today,
that we participate in the mystery
when we listen to the Spirit,
do the will of the Father
and keep on that narrow road,
the one that we call the way to follow Christ in love and faith.
It is not easy and that is why we come to the table;
because there are storms that come in our lives
and sometimes, they are very hard to navigate.
Without the Spirit it would be impossible,
but with the Spirit, it is always possible.
So today, we celebrate the Father, Son and Spirit, the Spirit of Truth,
the spiritual compass that dwells within us.
May we listen to the Spirit within us
and participate in the Trinity.
