Dancing With the Holy Spirit

This is the first post in a three-part series on the Holy Spirit. You can read the second and third posts here and here.

The Holy Spirit is a distinct Person in the Holy Trinity Who proceeds from the never-ending relationship of love and unity between God the Son and God the Father.

During a general audience, Pope Francis described the Holy Spirit by saying, “. . . the Holy Spirit constitutes the soul, the life blood of the Church and of every individual Christian: He is the Love of God who makes of our hearts his dwelling place and enters into communion with us.”

As beautiful as this is, the Holy Spirit can still feel elusive, an intangible piece of the Trinity that is hard to grasp. To try and better understand Who He is, we can turn to Sacred Scripture.

Jesus told His disciples, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you” (John 14:26).

Holy Spirit: Our Advocate

The name Advocate stands out to me; in other translations, the Holy Spirit is referred to as the Paraclete, the helper, or the comforter. Researching the names I wasn’t familiar with, I found the following:

Paraclete comes from the Greek work parakletos meaning “called alongside.”
The word advocate has roots in the Latin word advocatus, meaning “to call to one’s aid.”

When the Holy Spirit feels out of reach, we can return to these words to remind us of Who He is. Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit to walk alongside us and be our aid on our faith journey.

Listening to the Right Voice

The Holy Spirit expands our souls and minds to be open to God's graces in our lives as Christians. He is always moving and ready to work in our lives, but other things are always competing for our hearts and attention.

The Holy Spirit cannot reach us if we listen to voices that are not from Him. We come across these distractions in many different places. First, there is our own inclination to sin, as we learn that God's will is better than our natural, fallen inclinations. We were created to desire and seek God, Who is all good, but we often do not see Him as what is best for us.

With the prevalence of social media, we are living in a time that has taught us that our own opinions always matter and that what we are thinking needs to be said. It’s not that our opinions or voices are always bad, but when we are not guided by the Holy Spirit, we have a hard time knowing and doing what is right. When we filter our voices through the lens of the Holy Spirit, we find who we truly are.

Further, there is evil in the world—fallen angels—led by Satan. Satan means accuser and the word devil means divider. These evil spirits are always accusing and trying to create division. They are always whispering to us, trying to create confusion and chaos.

And while this may seem frightening, we have God in the Person of the Holy Spirit with us and the protection of our guardian angels to help us see and know and love God and His will. The spirit we listen to determines who we follow. And if we aren’t following the Holy Spirit, we are following someone else.

Life in the Spirit, A Never-ending Dance

Saint and theologian Saint Maximus the Confessor compared the bond between the members of the Holy Trinity to a never-ending dance where the Father and Son are the dancers, and the Holy Spirit is the structure of the dance they are following. The divine dance of the Trinity is dynamic, loving, and serving—a continuous movement of reciprocal giving and receiving. The Holy Spirit constantly invites us and encourages us to take part in this dance.

When I think about great dancers, what stands out to me is the grace and the strength that dancing requires. In partner dances, there is a deep level of trust needed to execute a lift or a twirl, or to move swiftly across the dance floor. When watching a partnership between two great dancers, it could be described as fluid, steady, passionate, harmonious, and smooth.

As a little girl dancing with my dad, he would take my hands and lead me around the room, twirling me and guiding me in steps that were unfamiliar to me. I still remember tripping on his feet or going in an opposite direction from where he was leading me. When I think about this dance, it was jerky, sporadic, and wobbly. And it wasn’t because of my dad; it was because I wasn’t allowing him to lead me. I find this is often the way I approach my relationship with the Holy Spirit.

Entering the Dance

At different times in my life, my dance with the Holy Spirit has taken different forms.

While in high school, my relationship with the Holy Spirit was set on fire when my family joined a Catholic charismatic community. Weekly bible studies, praise and worship, and regular prayer meetings became the new way my friends and I would hang out. During this time, I was in the middle of the dance floor with the Holy Spirit and being regularly lifted up by those around me.

Moving on to college and eventually moving to a new state, I still had my faith, but I had lost my familiar way of accessing the Holy Spirit. For a while, it was a lot of quiet. I was still on the dance floor, but it felt like a high-school dance where you’re three feet away from your partner, feet planted, and slowly swaying from side to side—in motion but not really going anywhere.

Growing in my career, becoming a wife and a mom, I found my dance shifting to one where I was constantly trying to lead. Pulling in different directions and stumbling on toes, feeling sure that I knew what was best for me and my life.

As I continue to dance with the Holy Spirit, I am daily learning to let go. Constantly reminding myself that to be a good dance partner, I need to allow the Holy Spirit to lead. When I feel the rhythms of my life become jerky and frantic, I know that I’m pulling too tight. When I feel the rhythms become steady and harmonious, I am reminded of what it’s like to invite the Holy Spirit to lead.

Take a moment to journal about the rhythms of your own life today. If the rhythm was a dance style, what would it be and what is your role in the dance?

Rachel Clouser is a wife, mother of three young children, and full-time marketing executive living in Portland, Oregon. She’s continually seeking God’s grace in the rhythm of work and family life. She loves baking, getting lost in a good book, and exploring the outdoors with her kids. She finds peace in Adoration and feels especially close to the Lord in the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest.