In my last post I started a conversation about the Spirit of God in our lives.  I talked about renewing and refreshing that spirit.  I’m acutely aware of the need for that in my own life right now and I hope that came across.  With this heightened sense of need for God’s animating energy also comes a desire on my part to protect my spirit.  My friend Carol calls this “bubbling”.  Carol is always encouraging me to take any life destroying thoughts or feelings and put them into a thought bubble and send them away so they cannot be internalized.  It’s a bit of guided imagery that my son Chase brought to life for me the other day.

Chase loves blowing bubbles.  He’s the Peter Pan in my life because while he’s technically a teenager he will probably always be a little boy at heart.  He’s small in stature and so darn cute that he gets away with it.  It’s a wonderfully refreshing anecdote to the times we live in that seem to demand an unprecedented level of maturity from kids. 

The other day I took Chase to the local arcade and he won a bunch of tickets and redeemed them for a sword shaped bubble blowing wand.  For Chase this is perfect because it looks like the knife Peter Pan carries to fight off pirates and it blows bubbles.  It’s bubble ecstasy!  What could be better than fighting off pirates with your bubble blowing dagger?  Not much.

I was watching Chase come to life with his bubble dagger acting out a fierce pirate battle and my heart was so moved by it.  The way he was able to use his imagination to carry him into a world where the gravest danger you face is a pirate lord that might try to steal the treasures you’ve plundered – is priceless.   

Clearly Chase embodies the childlike nature that Christ encouraged in all of us.  The purity of thought that flows through his mind is worth more than gold.  The world Chase lives in is unsullied by all of the toxic images that surround us and it’s not because he lives in a bubble.  Chase lives in the world but has made a choice not to be “of it”.  I suppose I’ve encouraged that by teaching Chase about life affirming choices and working hard to not expose him to things that would bruise his spirit.  Ultimately, however, it’s Chase that has chosen to say I’m okay being different than the rest of the world. 

It’s been a prayer of mine for both my boys since before they were born – that they would say no to the ways of the world and yes to the ways of God.  While this quality can be seen in both of them “Bubble Boy” as I like to call him, exemplifies it more.  Chase is absolutely willing to stand against the tide.  He knows what is good for him and he sticks with it. 

The world knows very well what is good.  We like to dismiss some of the horrible things we see by saying that people don’t know better when on some level they do.  I’m frustrated by the position that many born-again Christians take that says some people (especially non Christians) just don’t know what’s right and wrong.  I don’t buy that because the moral world exists as surely as the natural world exists.  The gospel message doesn’t overthrow it or increase it.  On some level no matter what your worldview you know what is good and pure and the matter simply becomes what you are willing to choose to feed your spirit with.  Are you going to feast on things that are good or are you going to consume things that are toxic?  

In his letter to the Philippians Paul exhorts his fellow believers by saying, “You’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious – the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.  Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized.  Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.”  (Philippians 4:7-21 The Message)

I believe what Paul is saying here is that there is a beautiful rhythm to life in the Spirit that can come from meditating on what is good and pure even when you live in a world that is out of sync.  Life in the bubble of God’s grace, however, can only be lived by choice.  It’s a commitment that requires rising above all that would try to weigh you down. 

To do that you simply have to look at what you are feeding your spirit with knowingly or unknowingly.  What are you watching on television or in the movie theater?  What are you reading out in the open or in private?  How are you spending your free time?  Who are the people you are hanging out with and what is the influence they have on you?  What are you talking about with those folks? Are you engaged in a life that feeds your spirit or one that depletes it? 

Your skin and your spirit cannot be separated.  You become whatever your expose yourself to. The enemy of your soul is always knocking on the door to your heart and mind because he wants to get in.  Once he’s made it through any opening you give him it is hard to get him out.  A bubble strong enough to hold a force that doesn’t want to be in it is hard to create.  

I know in my life that I need to take the same direction I still give my kids which is, “Don’t answer the door.”  We aren’t expecting anyone so under no circumstances should you open the door.   In fact, I don’t even want you to look through the window to see who is there.  It could be a wolf in sheep’s clothing because the enemy of your soul typically presents himself in a very benign looking way with a plate of cookies to tempt you.  Once you take a bite it’s hard to spit it out.

Paul encouraged the Philippian believers to, “go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society.  Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God.” (Philippians 2:13 The Message)  To enjoy a breath of fresh air and be one in this world requires saying no to a diet of worldly things and saying yes to all the good stuff.  Let sweet little Chase be a reminder to us all that we can choose to be different and still have a bubbly life!  It just takes a little soap and water.

I was driving with my fiancé through what seemed like the whole state of Texas during the NBA play-offs and wanted to follow the Cleveland-Orlando game.   You would think that in such a sports-loving state you might find a game the rest of the country is interested in on the radio but we couldn’t.  I guess once the Spurs and Rockets were out of it Texans just lost interest.  I really wanted to know what was happening though so I turned to my Blackberry to get the game scores live from ESPN.  For a technically challenged person I was surprised I was even able to figure out how to do that but I did and for most of the drive was able to follow the game.

It wasn’t very exciting though because cheering your team on from the passenger seat of your vehicle just isn’t the same.  Of course being at home and watching isn’t as fun as attending a game but at least at home you can see the game, hear the crowd, and follow the commentary.  Throw in some nachos and a beverage of your choosing and you can really get into it.  Getting into the “spirit” of the game is a real challenge when it’s just an intellectual exercise and not a sensory experience. 

I know what I’m talking about here because I’m a trained professional.  All those years of cheerleader training combined with my DNA has credentialed me to say, “I’ve got spirit”.  Actually I think it goes something like this, “We’ve got spirit yes we do! We’ve got spirit how ‘bout you?”  You know that cheer don’t you?  The girls on sideline start it to get the crowd going and unless you are just a complete crab you join the crowd.   For basketball I can still do the “shoot two” cheer and when my team is down sometimes I just can’t help myself.  That cheerleader persona comes out.

In sports the home team advantage is widely acknowledged.  When a team is playing at home on their field with their fans they have an “edge”.  One could argue they are more rested since they didn’t have to travel and that’s true but what we all know is that the vibe you have at home is so much stronger than in the opposition’s camp.  What is that vibe?  It’s a non-material animating energy that we call “spirit”.  You can’t actually see it but you can sense it.  It’s all around you and it provides the affirming mindset that you want and need to move toward victory. 

That collective energy is what you’re missing when you’re driving down the road following a game on your Blackberry.  It’s much like life.  In the day in day out grind of things we don’t have a crowd of fans cheering us on.  Certainly we can all have friends and family offering us support and encouragement but we typically don’t have the collective energy of an actual crowd spurring us on to take the next step.  We find ourselves at home but still missing the advantage.  It doesn’t have to feel that way for us however.   

For Christians that non-material life affirming animating energy is the Holy Spirit.  In the Message translation of the Scriptures when Jesus is telling the disciples He will be leaving them he says, “I will talk to the Father, and he’ll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you.”  He goes on to say, “In just a little while the world will no longer see me, but you’re going to see me because I am alive and you’re about to come alive.” 

I love that “come alive” part.  That’s such a powerful promise and yet we walk through life and we don’t feel very alive.  We’re not at home on earth and so we think we have no edge or advantage over the subtle destructive “life destroying” messages that bombard us.  As fans of the Christian way of life that is exactly what the enemy of our souls wants.  Our opponent knows if he can destroy our spirit we’ll unravel our lives for him.

In the marathon of life I’m learning more and more that I simply have to rely on God to renew my spirit.  When I can acknowledge that faith is a supernatural fruit of the spirit that I need to seek out I’m postured to receive it.  Lately I’ve come to pray what King David did in the Psalm 51, “Renew a loyal (or right) spirit within me.” 

With the sin in David’s life we tend to read this Psalm and focus on what David was doing wrong and see this as a prayer of penitence but I believe it’s more than that.  I think David is acknowledging that his spirit was anemic.  That he was in desperate need of God’s animating life affirming spirit in him or he would continue to drag through his life.  He was saying fill my heart and spirit with new thoughts.  Refresh me!

It’s hard to be your own cheerleader.  You can have all the positive self-talk in the world and still not be able to animate your spirit.  The reality of life is that we all have our hills to climb and while we might have lots of friends and family surrounding us cheering us on - the battle in our spirit is ours alone.  We can choose to seek out the supernatural presence of God or we can try to go it on our own.  If your pride won’t allow that then perhaps your vanity might.  Just imagine yourself in a silly little skirt doing cartwheels for yourself and that’s what all your efforts to fill your spirit up on your own look like.  It’s not a pretty picture but perhaps one that can convince you to let go a little and invite the Holy Spirit to renew in you a right spirit.