Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? “Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. John 3:1-19

It’s been a quiet week at Crown and Cactus Lutheran Church, that little congregation over between Mesa and Gilbert and Chandler. Pastor Baldridge had been right. After the excitement and spirit of Mother’s Day it was hard to replicate that same mood for the Pentecost celebration last Sunday. In spite of Jennie Craster’s best efforts with flying doves and soaring flames the vibe just wasn’t there. Oh, Pastor Baldridge knew that the Spirit was there–that’s a given every week–but for too many people the spring season of “church” had ended with the tribute to mothers. 

They did honor the congregation’s five high school graduates though, and three of them, prodded by Brad Zeiner, actually came to the service. Brad had put together a brief graduation ritual for them and it was nice. The three had come forward, stood before Brad as he said a few words of encouragement, and then knelt for a prayer of blessing and commissioning. After the service they stood with him for pictures and some  awkward heartfelt hugs. Brad will miss their leadership in the youth group as they head off to college.

On Monday afternoon Stacey Thorson stopped by the office to consult with Leah Martin on the progress of the annual Vacation Bible School. She’s been involved for several years now and has a pretty good grasp of all the details that have to be taken care of for the event to be a success. She doesn’t worry too much about the daily routine. She has resourceful teachers lined up and Janice Porter handles all the music, this year complemented by the seismic trio, Syd, Chris, and Niles–the kids are already jazzed by the prospect of a full week with them. But all the supplies are a pain. Stacey depends totally on donations and this year, for some reason, they’ve been slow to come in. So on Monday she and Leah spent a couple of hours organizing the supply room and trying to figure out what they still needed. And there are always the unforeseen things too: teachers who have to back out of their commitment at the last minute, malfunctioning of the air conditioning in the Sunday School area, and God only knows what else. There’s something new every year. 

On Tuesday evening Pastor Baldridge decided to sit in on Prisha Patel’s meditation group, something that he tries to do every month or so, not to check up on her, but to reinforce his own feeble efforts to get in a regular schedule of meditating. The usual regulars were there. Prisha and Mavis Carlson have had a faithful following for almost a year now. Some have dropped out but there are always others wanting to give it a try. Prisha is used to having him drop by and he doesn’t make her nearly so nervous as he did at first. It took her months to get over the notion that he was giving her some sort of orthodoxy check-up when he stopped in. Now she knows that he’s struggling just like everyone else and that he appreciates her insights.

This night members of the group were talking about how meditation was working for them, more precisely they were sharing how they dealt with distractions that destroyed their focus. One of them had a dog who kept joining her during her meditation time and she told how it had been such a distraction until she realized that the dog only wanted to meditate too. Now she just lets her Labradoodle curl up next to her–he doesn’t really sleep, but lies perfectly still. She asked Pastor Baldridge, “Do you think dogs can meditate?” He was stumped, but Prisha rescued him. Always affirming, she assured the woman that certainly dogs could seek union with the Creator, and that some were even better at it than humans, precisely because they didn’t have so many distractions.

Later on as people were leaving and going to their cars, Prisha caught up with Pastor Baldridge and asked if she might speak to him for a moment. As usual in such circumstances, he steered her toward the Briar Bench–it was probably the best place on the campus for late night conversations. After a few moments of talking about how life was going for her, Prisha got to the point. She’s been around the congregation for almost a year now, and was beginning to have some theological questions. More precisely, she was having a dickens of a time trying to figure out the Trinity.

She said, “We have hundreds, even thousands, gods and goddesses in Hinduism, but I always thought Christians believed that there was just one God. But through the year I’ve heard you talk about a Triune God; a Father, Son, and Holy Spirit type of God. I’m having a hard time figuring out what that means. I know it must be important, but I just can’t get my head around it. Is there just one God, or are there three?”

Pastor Baldridge took a deep breath. He didn’t particularly like talking about dogma or doctrine. It always seems so limiting to him, like some human attempt to control God through definition. He spoke carefully, “Well, yes, Prisha, we do teach that God is Triune. It’s our human way of describing the ways we can experience God, and sometimes it even makes sense. We believe that God brings all things into existence, that God is the creator.” Prisha nodded. This she could understand. 

Then Pastor Baldridge said, “But we also believe that God became flesh in the person of Jesus, that through Jesus we can begin to know God, namely that God is love.” He paused, and Prisha again nodded. In her time hanging around Crown and Cactus she had seen and experienced love pretty clearly. 

She said, “So you say that Jesus is God too?” Pastor Baldridge nodded. Then she said, “So where do you get the three?”

Pastor Baldridge laughed. As usual, as he tried to explain the Trinity he was coming up short. He said, “Well, God is. That means that God is among us now, that God is like an active verb, always present and interacting with our spirits. We call this experience of God the Holy Spirit.” Then he got serious, “Really, what you are doing in your meditation class is related to the Holy Spirit. By repeating your mantrum you are creating the space in which the Spirit of God becomes one with the human spirit. It’s the Holy Spirit that brings enlightenment.”

Prisha nodded. She had never thought that the methods she modeled in her class had anything to do with the Holy Spirit, but it was kind of fun to think of it in that way. Perhaps Hindus and Christians really weren’t that far apart after all.

Pastor Baldridge said, “I hope this makes some sense to you. Our scripture teaches that the Holy Spirit is like the wind. We can hear the sound of it but we don’t know where it is going or where it is coming from. The Holy Spirit blows through all denominations and faiths, always bringing a message of love and reconciliation.” Then he added, “When we talk about the doctrine of the Holy Trinity we are actually hindering the Spirit. God is not a doctrine. God is a presence that cannot be limited or controlled.”

Prisha had the sense that she was hearing important stuff but she wasn’t quite sure what it meant. She smiled. “Thanks,” she said, getting off the bench, “you’ve given me something to think about. And thanks for telling me that I am helping people to connect to God’s holy presence. That makes me feel really good inside!”

Pastor Baldridge wasn’t sure that he had been all that helpful. But he was willing to take Prisha’s word for it. And he had been pleased to be able to link the Holy Spirit with meditation. That was a new thought that actually made some sense. It is good to know that God is bigger than all of our definitions, and even when we get our doctrines messed up, it doesn’t change God one single bit!

That’s the word from Crown and Cactus Lutheran Church, where all the men are committed, the women are faithful, and the children are all growing in grace.