Holy Spirit as Dove

And the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” ~ Luke 3:22

 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. ~ Mark 1:10
The dove descending breaks the air. ~ TS Eliott

 The dove, on silver pinions, wove her peaceful way. ~ James Montgomery

From the moment the dove brought the olive branch back to Noah, the dove became a sign of peace. Of hope. You can just imagine this dove descending gently on the head of Jesus at his baptism, its wings fluttering softly as if came down.

 You can see this as the dove described by 19th century poet, James Montgomery.

 But read a little farther in the poem by TS Eliott, and the dove begins to sound anything but peaceful. "Four Quartets" goes on to use the fire image of the Spirit in frightening ways. Other words in his poem are: torment, despair, terror.

 And yet even there, the fire is one of purification brought about by love.

 This sounds more like Mark's picture of Jesus' baptism. Here the Spirit doesn't gently descend, but instead tears apart the heavens first.

 Rips apart what we know to make room for the Spirit to really do it's work.

 Doves can be signs of peace. And can give us the idea that the Spirit goes about her work in a soothing and tender manner.

 But remembering that the Spirit is also fire and wind, there is nothing benign about the Spirit at work in us.

 She tears apart our constructions of what we think must be. Of our ideas about life and religion and creation.

 She prods us to move out of our comfortable, serene lives to bring us to the place in which God wants us to reside.

 And then - only then - do we begin to know true peace.
Prayer: Spirit descend on me and disrupt the serenity I think I've created, so that I can live into the true peace that is found only in you. Amen.

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