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by Fred C. Wilson III
December 1, 2012
“Send forth Your Spirit, they shall be created and You shall renew the face of the Earth.”
-Holy Spirit Prayer-
Christmas is the time for giving. What better way to celebrate the Holiday spirit than share the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. We can’t bestow His Gifts on others or ourselves; only God can. We can share the Spirit’s gifts by Christian living but we can’t give what we don’t have.
WISDOM is priority one in God’s spiritual arsenal. When we are wise we see life as God does. Wisdom in its simplest denominator means having common sense. Case in point: everybody knows people who are gifted academically. There’s no test they can’t pass; no class they can’t ‘ace.’ Any job that requires academic acumen from designing complex computer programs, teaching a class in quantum mechanics, and composing music masterpieces, these folks function at the genius level. There are natural athletes who can effortlessly hit a baseball over any outfield fence or effortless run touchdowns. Given every day human situations (maintaining love relationships, raising their children, getting along with people, keeping a job, balancing budgets, etc.) many of these same people come up shorthanded; they’re losers in life; all book, brawn but no brains. The Gift of Wisdom makes a person live in the Lord to be able to think and function with the knowledge that God is orchestrating their lives.
Americans collectively are theological illiterates. Since the close of Vatican Council II Catholics in particular appear to be lost in limbo regarding doctrines of the Faith. When I was a child attending St. Bernard’s Elementary School those nuns drilled us relentlessly. We knew why we were Catholics. We were correctly taught that our primary function on Earth was ‘to know, love and serve God in this world to be happy with Him in the next.’ With today’s watered down liberalized religion, things are different. Bible centered non-Catholics appear to function theologically better than many of my co-religionists. The Gift of UNDERSTANDING enables Christians to know their faith. Understanding sets souls on fire with Evangelical zeal instilling them with an urgency to introduce others to Jesus Christ. Aforementioned in another article this incident happened in class during my teaching years. On days of inclement weather it’s common practice to let students have indoor recess. It was during an indoor recess period that I listened in on a Muslim student debating with her friends on Islamic theology. This girl’s knowledge of the Koran and the Christian Bible was considerable. During the argument that ensued she easily bested her mostly Catholic-Christian challengers. This girl demonstrated how the Gift of Understanding works. Christians, know your Faith!
COUNCIL is that divine gift that gives us intuition to do the right thing in tough times. This gift guides us in trying situations. This gift shows us how to avoid unnecessary hardships. In baseball parlance Council shows us when to ‘pitch a changeup’ when we want to ‘throw smoke (fastball);’ when to pass when we want to run the football. Council shows the soul its duties.
Americans think the gift of FORTITUDE comes with the territory. Nobody loves or respect wimps. In schools the meek ones are terrorized by the strong. In families timid souls are never taken seriously or given proper respect. In the ‘market place’ weak people are used up then tossed away like dirty wash cloths. Having fortitude gives us the courage to stand up for right and resist wrong. Fortitude makes weak souls strong. This gift helps us through life’s uncertainties.
With the gift of KNOWLEDGE we are better able to discern and discover God’s will in everything we do and have the guts to do it for love and duty. With this gift we will be able to discern everything from a divine perspective. We will be able to discern God’s will from that of our satanic enemy. During trips to the Philippines I noticed that fake faith healers abound. I’ve seen gullible people donate varying sums of money to assist their ‘ministries.’ Some gifted souls are called by the Holy Spirit to extend their hands in healing but they are few.
The gift of PIETY isn’t showy. Reader you know your Bible enough to know that the Lord despises religious showoffs. We must be vigilant. We have to distinguish between legitimate religion and religiosity. I used to work with an ordained Baptist minister who knew his Bible like the back of his hand. Trouble was the man despised Catholics; if you called his home his family members were rude and ill mannered. Here’s one that happened in Seoul, South Korea. A family member asked me to purchase a Buddhist rosary and a small statute of Buddha. Problem was when I entered a Buddhist religious article store and politely asked the sales clerk for assistance, she rudely stopped praying her rosary, went over to where the holy articles were, returned with rosary and statue then slammed them on the counter after barking out the price. Sham piety is worse than none at all. We must avoid hypocritical demonstrations of religiosity. Reader, we have to be vigilant. The line that separate true piety from sanctimoniousness is very thin.
FEAR OF THE LORD is having a reverential fear of God. Remember when you were in school how you dreaded showing your parents a failing report card? If you did you knew what happened; they would punish you and make you promise to do better next marking period. Fearing God because we don’t want to offend Him out of love is the ideal but we know that Purgatory and Hell alone is sufficient to deter bad behavior. Years ago priests/preachers preached visions of a fiery Hell. When I was a kid we had this priest who used to describe the flames of the Everlasting Inferno in graphic terms. With the mess taking place in our churches today due to watered down Gospel doctrine, a good fire and brimstone homily about Hell would be nice. Fire and Brimstone sermons scared straight generations of Christians. It kept them in church and out of trouble. Today’s milk-sop Christianity is emptying our churches but filling our jails. We want to love God because God first loved us but tossing in a healthy dose of Hellfire will make our commitment permanent.
Reader we share the divine gifts of the Holy Spirit with others when our practice of His/Her gifts extend beyond our spiritual boarders to enrich the lives of others; God bless.(vamaxwell@yahoo.com)