Giving up the Wild Goose Chase

I don’t know much about the Holy Spirit.

And I think that’s the way God wants it.

I used to think I knew a whole lot more than I think I know now.

It’s funny how that happens. Just when you think you’ve got God all figured out, He shows up and turns it all upside down. This is especially true with the Holy Spirit.

So I know less today then I knew ten years ago…you know, back when I had all the answers.

Don’t get me wrong. I tried to hold on to God. I tried to keep Him boxed up and tied down. When I felt Him slipping out of my grasp, I tried to corner Him.

But I found that the more I chased, the faster He ran. The more I tried to trap Him, the slipperyer (try saying that 10 times) He became. God’s tricky that way.

It’s like trying to catch a fish with your bare hands. Have you ever tried it? The more you move, the further away they swim.

Or if not a fish, have you ever chased a duck around a yard? Or a goat in a field? They don’t want to be caught, and the more you run, the further away they get.

I think God is like that. Especially the Holy Spirit. Maybe that is why an old Celtic title for the Holy Spirit is the Wild Goose. He doesn’t like to be chased. He doesn’t like to be cornered. He is elusive.

But you know what? Though you cannot chase after a fish, a duck, or a goat and catch one (most of the time), you can get them to come to you. How? By being still. Moving slow. And offering something that they want.

I caught a fish in a butterfly net last week by standing quietly in the water, and putting a few crumbs of bread out. Rather than the fish running from me, they swam toward me, and in fact, swarmed me. I was able to catch them with just a little net. The same thing often works for ducks and goats. Sit still. Be quiet. And offer them something they want, and they will come around to you, without you having to take a step.

So as I try to get to know the Holy Spirit, I am learning just to sit still and be quiet. I haven’t yet figured out what He wants, but at least He’s not running away from me anymore. And I have a sneaking suspicion that what He wants is me.

This post is part of the July Synchroblog. Here are the links to the other participating bloggers:

• Anna Snoeyenbos – Wild Goose Festival – A Spirit of Life Revival
• Lee Smith – Goose Bumps: Opportunities Everywhere for Offense. A Fair and Objective Review
• Karyn Wiseman – Flying With the Goose
• Kyla Cofer – I went to the Wild Goose Fest and came back in love
• Brian Gerald Murphy – Born Again (Again) at Wild Goose
• Chris Lenshyn – Chasing the Wild Goose
• Cherie at Renaissance Garden – Wild Goose Return
• Deborah Wise – Wild Goose Chasing
• Custodianseed – “every day they eat boiled goose”
• Will Norman – Back from the Wild Goose Fest
• Martin Turnidge – Greenbelt and the Wild Goose
• Kerri at Practicing Contemplative – Waterfowl in My Life
• Abbie Waters – Jessica: A Fable
• Steve Knight – Why Wild Goose Festival Was So Magical
• Tammy Carter – Visual Acuity and Flying
• Michelle Thorburg Hammond – I heart Jay Bakker and Peter Rollins
• Matthew Bolz-Weber – Remembering Wild Goose
• Paul Fromberg – Celebrating Interdependence Day
• David Zimmerman – Wild Goose Festival: A Recap
• Dan Brennan – U2, the Wild Goose, and Deep Freedom
• Mike Croghan – The Wild Goose is Not Safe
• John Martinez – The Table
• Callid Keefe-Perry – Gatekeeping the Goose
• Eric Elnes – The Inaugural Wild Goose Festival: Recovering Something Lost
• Shay Kearns – The Power of a T-Shirt, Apologizing to Over the Rhine, and Public vs. Private (Part One)
• Glen Reteif – Duck Duck Goose
• Peterson Toscano – I’ve Been Goosed, What I Carried Into Wild Goose, and What I Blurted Out at Wild Goose
• Seth Donovan – About More than “The Gays”
• Exiles in New York – Greenbelt and the Wild Goose
• Tammy Carter – Visual Acuity and Flying
• TSmith – What I’ll Take From Wild Goose
• Dale Lature – Wild Goose Reflection
• Steve Hayes – Wild Goose Chase?
• Minnow – Grace Response
• Christine Sine – Encounters With A Thin Space
• Robert – Thoughts On the Inaugural Wild Goose
• Anna Woofenden – Slippery Slope Reflections
• Wendy McCaig – Loosing The Goose
• Joey Wahoo – Into The Wild
• Rachel Swan – goosed
• Patricia Burlison – I Called Life
• Jason Hess – While At the Goose
• The Bec Cranford – Wild Goose
• Anthony Ehrhardt – Chasing The Wild Goose on Independence Day
• Joel DeVyldere – So Lost at Last-(In the Woods)
• MK Anderson – Listening To The Wild Goose
• Jamie Arpin-Ricci – Wild Goose Fest
• Unfinished Symphony – #5 – The Last Post … for a while