This is an art piece in the Tirolean Museum of Folk Art in Innsbruck, Austria. It is entitled “Dove of the Holy Ghost” and is from the first half of the 19th Century. To me this looks less like a holy dove and more like a crazy chicken. I think it fits with the gospel reading from the First Sunday in Lent. Matthew tells us that the Holy Spirit led Jesus up into the wilderness after his baptism to be tested by the devil. I actually find Mark’s version more compelling, “And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.” Perhaps it was Mark’s Holy Spirit that the Tirolean artist had in mind!
We don’t spend much time talking about the Holy Spirit in our tradition, but the Spirit’s work (whether it’s leading or driving Jesus into the wilderness) is worth contemplating. We talk about being inspired, led, filled, and guided by the Holy Spirit. What is it like to be driven by the Spirit?
There are times, after all, when God needs us to go places that we would rather not go, to say things that we are afraid to say, to do things that are new to us, to change in ways that we find frightening. Have you ever felt pursued by something akin to Tirolean “Dove of the Holy Ghost?” My guess is that you have had this experience and that you will most likely have it again! I will simply encourage you to remember that it is not just any old spirit who is doing the leading or the pushing or the chasing. It is the Holy Spirit. This One is of God who is gracious, merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.