Believing that wisdom is intrinsic, that it has always been and will always be, that it is present in everything and every place, means that we can be “guided into all truth” by all that we encounter – from the simple meal of bread and wine here at this table to the banquet of experiences every day of our lives.
What is so astonishing about Pentecost is that it is not a once-upon-a-time story. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit is an ongoing, never-ending account of God’s refusal to give up on us. The Spirit which hovered over the deep way back in Genesis, the Spirit that overshadowed Mary to bring God into the world, the Spirit who descended on Jesus in the Jordan River, the Spirit who midwifed a book of prayers into being, that Spirit has been given to us. Baptism is the sign that this is so.
Paul had come to Philippi because he had seen a vision of a Greek man saying, ‘Come and help us.’ Instead of finding that man, he was led to this enterprising businesswoman who wound up helping him!
You may need to pray your way into the story differently. But since the theme is so pervasive in the Bible, from the first pages to the last, I do believe each one of us would do well to enter this story with at least some part of ourselves we can’t imagine anyone would ever welcome or pay loving attention to, especially God.