Sedona, AZ is plentiful with people that have a great appreciation for spiritual things: Crystals, Tarot Cards, Buddha, Ghandi, even Jesus. Only in Sedona can you, within a one mile radius, visit an energy vortex (which, it’s suggested, can provide healing, enlightenment, empowerment, and can even give your prayers an extra jolt of power), purchase uniquely “strong” charms and gems to help get you through your day (they come in all shapes and sizes…wear them around your neck, in your ears, on your toes, or drop them in your pocket), get your palms, feet, & aura read, visit a “soul-cleansing” spa, spend a day on the red-rocks with your own personal yoga instructor, purchase some moving, earthy, inspirational works of art (too numerous to list), and then drop by The Chapel of the Holy Cross to pick up a spiritual memoir of your visit. It’s true, Sedona is a smorgasbord of pick-and-choose spiritual treats. People from every walk of life…from all around the globe…(in 2006, the estimate was 2.8 MILLION PEOPLE) visit Sedona annually looking for a spiritual pick-me-up…a quick fix.
Today, as I sit in Heart of Sedona watching all varieties of these folks drift in and out of the doors, I find myself wondering why I’m not part of that statistic? Why am I not looking for a quick spiritual fix, and what is it that has filled me to the point that I don’t have a need for a fix? Ironically, the answer to that question is also the reason that I’m in Sedona today…and the reason behind SummitLIFE. It’s the Holy Spirit of God.
15-17 “If you love me, show it by doing what I’ve told you. I will talk to the Father, and he’ll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. This Friend is the Spirit of Truth [the Holy Spirit of God]. The godless world can’t take him in because it doesn’t have eyes to see him, doesn’t know what to look for. But you know him already because he has been staying with you, and will even be in you!” ~Jesus
God has so filled me with His Spirit that I don’t have a longing for a fix. The Spirit, in contrast to spiritual things, completely satisfies…and it’s the Spirit of God that’s brought my family to Sedona. [More on that HERE.] We’re here to welcome the community of Sedona into community with God…one life at a time. Ironically, it was a passionate band of Jesus followers that the Spirit of God brought to the small tourist town of Camdenton, MO that introduced me to Jesus. And Jesus, in turn, gifted me with the Holy Spirit, that I may never long again for spiritual things.
Father, may we [SummitLIFE] now be that passionate band of Jesus followers in this small tourist town of Sedona, AZ, introducing a community of spiritually hungry people to the One that truly satisfies…JESUS… and may they, being filled with THE Spirit, never again long for spiritual things.
2 Responses to LONGING for SPIRITUAL THINGS
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David Parker says:
Good comments…and headed in the right direction to crack open some conversation. One other thought: God’s Spirit is not the only spirit at work in the world, thus not all “spiritual things” are of God. It may be that as you dig in it’s discovered that it’s another spirit altogether.
Definitely love the “filling” part, because chances are the people that come for the quick fix are not filled at all. But as we discussed a bit offline, everything is spiritual, but as you noted people there are not recognizing God The Holy Spirit as the base of this. They believe its the earth, or the mystic, or some other form of “god” – but I argue they are finding God and not fully seeing it yet. I say to the person who was “healed” by the cleansing of their soul through Yoga, or the medallion they bought, or the rock they touched, etc, etc, thats the taste of Heaven crashing into Earth, thats the taste of God’s Spirit in them and among them, thats the way it should be…they may say its the “item” that healed them, but I think it opens up a world of discussion and a way to push them deeper into thinking and asking questions. If God is the bedrock we claim He is as followers of Jesus, then most certainly we need to push these people to keep digging, keep asking questions. Why is it a rock? Why do you think it healed you? Why are you not filled after this quick fix? Questions to conversations, to finding the Love of Jesus. I like it…..