FROM THE PULPIT: MORE POWER

Pentecost, the last Sunday of May, is the birthday of the Church, a festive day that commemorates the gift of the Holy Spirit to the apostles. It is reported in the book of Acts that tongues as of fire descended upon the apostles who began proclaiming the good news in every language spoken by those returning to their homeland for a Jewish festival.

The coming of the Spirit in this way was the fulfillment of the promise of Christ to the disciples before the Ascension. Jesus said, "I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in (Jerusalem) until you have been clothed with power from on high." (Luke 24:49 NRSV) The gift of the Spirit causes me to consider the shape or real power in the world.

Pakistan detonated three nuclear devices recently and said it was ready to adapt a nuclear warhead to a newly tested long-range missile. The detonations in a remote western region of Pakistan come in response to the testing of five nuclear devices by neighboring India earlier this month.

Suddenly, once again, the world finds ourselves in the midst of a nuclear prolification which we might have lulled ourselves into thinking was a thing of the past. For the sake of security nations trust in nuclear power and instead create the deepest sense of insecurity that could possibly be imagined in the entire world community.

I don't pretend to know the intricacies of foreign policy or military intelligence but I do know something about the shape of real power. Trusting always in being stronger than someone else or having the most of whatever it is that we want is doomed to create a pervasive competition and vigilance that will, maybe though not likely, give us an absence of conflict, but never a true peace in our world.

Real power, the power from on high, is the power that cuts across barriers and creates unity. The power of the spirit is a true power for transformation which is much more effective than fear or coercion.

Nations, and the people in them, will never live in peace until we have given ourselves to this higher power. The power of the spirit can change a life and change the world. The challenge in this age of confusion is to learn to trust that the power of the spirit is more power than anything that we could ever create or compile on our own.