There’s not too much that I can say I know with certainty, but I have experienced the gifts of the Holy Spirit deeply. The Spirit comes with the force of a strong, rushing wind (Acts 2:2) that demolishes your certitude and your tendency to use reason to explain things. It knocks you down and fills you up simultaneously, then whispers gently and playfully in your soul’s ear, “Go ahead, oh smart one, explain this!”
Acts 2:3-4 tells us how those present on the day of Pentecost were rattled in much the same way, knocked down off their high horses, and filled up with the gifts of the Spirit. We read that the Galileans suddenly “saw something that looked like fire in the shape of tongues. The flames separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit. They began to speak in languages they had not known before.” Well, that will definitely shatter your certainty!
As we read on, we hear that this gift allowed the others who were present to understand what was being said because “each one heard their own language being spoken” (Acts 2:6). Notice how the Holy Spirit didn’t force the language of the Galileans upon others. Instead, they were given the gift of seeing and respecting the beauty of their diversity. They spoke to others in a language that each could understand. The Spirit might just as quickly caused all to recognize and speak one human language, but the Spirit is far too creative and playful for such a dull outcome.
I read somewhere that the world is heading towards one global human language (English). How very sad. I would miss terribly the beauty and mystery of the other languages. Perhaps we should move towards the universal language of the Spirit, which teaches us to appreciate the uniqueness of others and to make every effort to understand their ways.
It won’t be hard to learn this language. All hearts already know it (Acts 2:8) because it flows from the One who knows all hearts intimately (Acts 15:8). This common language transcends everything about us that we perceive as different and shows us that, in fact, we are all the same -- we are made from and for love. And love is a universal language.
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Read more reflections in When on Earth: Discovering Christian Spirituality in the Daily Happenings of Ordinary Life.