The Seed of Hope

The Gift of the Holy Spirit

Have you ever agreed to participate in an event, a class, or a dinner party and not known why you did so in the first place? And as the time for this particular function drew closer and closer, did you question your decision to attend more and more? If you’ve done this before, you can rest assured in knowing that you’re not the only one who has!

A month ago I signed up to attend a men’s retreat (Catalyst) hosted by The Church of the Highlands, a non-denominational church located here in Birmingham. The day after I registered I began questioning why I had done so. My thinking was that after all the epiphanies I’ve been fortunate enough to have in the past couple of years, there couldn’t be many more left for me to have.

But I’ll tell you, I’ve learned not to question when God steers me in a certain direction or down a certain path. I figured that God planted the idea in my head for me to go to this thing, and that’s exactly what I was gonna do!

My friend Steve McGee and I rode together, and on the way there, I told him that I was going with no specific expectations for the weekend. That way, if I didn’t have any “aha” moments, I wouldn’t come away disappointed.

I wasn’t.

I came away from that retreat with several memorable moments, and today I want to share my thoughts about one of them with you.

There were four different “sessions” held during the course of the weekend. It’s the third one, on Saturday night, that I want to tell you about today.

Saturday night’s speaker was Layne Schranz, the Director of Student Ministries at Highlands. Layne talked about completeness in life, serving God’s church, and the Holy Spirit.

I’m not sure in which order I want to proceed from this point on. I think that I’ll   talk about the past to “set the table” for telling you about the present.

When I was the fourth grade I received the Sacrament of Confirmation in the Catholic Church; that is to say, I received the gift of The Holy Spirit. In preparing to be Confirmed, we studied the Holy Spirit….what He was, who He was, and how His presence would make us stronger Catholics ( if I’m off the mark this one a bit, you’ll have to forgive me….it’s only been 48 years since I was confirmed!).

The day came, and it was a huge event at the church, and I was confirmed. I remember thinking “I don’t feel any different. I certainly don’t feel stronger, or braver, and I certainly don’t feel the Holy Spirit in me. Maybe I missed something.” I scanned the faces of my classmates to see if any of them looked any different. They all looked the same as before and of course I was too embarrassed to actually ask if they felt different! And that’s how I received the Holy Spirit 48 years ago.

Through my adolescent, teen, and adult years I never forgot about the Holy Spirit. The Sign of the Cross is used frequently in the Catholic Church to open and close prayers. The verbiage used in making The Sign of the Cross is In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. So for me there was always an awareness of the Holy Spirit by name, if nothing else.

When I began this spiritual walk a few years ago, I became more aware of the Holy Spirit. Actually, the awareness came from other people. In 2007 I began making presentations for REDKEN (the hair care company), and at some point in each one I would make a reference to my faith, giving God the credit for our success. After each of those presentations at least one person would inform me that the Holy Spirit was definitely working in and through me, giving me the courage and boldness to openly profess my faith. Since I didn’t know what the Holy Spirit felt like, I could only agree with them.

As my faith got stronger, as my feelings for God became deeper, as my relationship with Christ began evolving, life became more of a challenge. Let me rephrase that: living my life the way I wanted to, walking the walk of a true Christian, became a challenge. It was a challenge because the devil would do everything he could to thwart my efforts, and I was determined not to let him.

Each morning during meditation and prayer I began asking to receive the wisdom of the Father, the compassion of the Son, and the strength of the Holy Spirit. And I continued to move forward on my path, always pushing, never letting up. Along the way, God’s presence within me grew stronger and stronger, as did my willingness to share my faith with others..

The Call

Near the end of the Saturday night session Layne extended an invitation to take part in a Baptism of The Holy Spirit. Still plagued by my childhood inhibitions at 56, I was too embarrassed to ask just what that meant! I assumed that it was something akin to my Confirmation, so at first I was gonna decline the invitation. But then I recalled the fact that when I was confirmed in the fourth grade, I really didn’t understand what it meant. And it wasn’t a voluntary act….I was told that I was going to be confirmed. Period. And I was.

“This time” I thought, “I’m going to make a conscious decision to receive the Holy Spirit. I’m going to welcome Him into my heart and ask Him to give me strength, comfort, and peace of mind.”

Standing among the other men that had opted to participate, I asked to receive the Holy Spirit with such fervor that today I can recall neither Layne’s words nor any of my own during those few minutes. And then it was over. I stood there, with my eyes closed, taking an inventory of my feelings. I didn’t feel any stronger, braver, or wiser. But I did feel more at peace.  

As the session came to an end, Layne offered his assurances that every participant in that room would indeed feel the presence of the Holy Spirit. It may not be at that moment, or that week, or even that month, but at some point, each of our lives would be impacted by that night.

Since the retreat…..

It’s been three weeks since Catalyst, since I received the Holy Spirit. I have to tell you, there have been a lot of changes in my life in those three short weeks. These changes have been internal, not anything visible to the naked eye. I don’t know exactly how to describe these changes…..

The fire of spiritual passion that drives me to know more about God and to “walk the walk” burns hotter than ever, yet it doesn’t consume me. Determination is tempered by patience. Wisdom is guided by insight. I believe, without any doubt, that I am following the path that God laid out for me. There is just a knowing….

I told you a month or so ago that I considered myself blessed that my life is so “comfortable”. That comfort isn’t a result of my life being that easy; I’m a husband, father, grandfather, son, mentor, and co-owner of a business with 14 employees trusting me with their careers. That comfort is the result of the Trinity…. the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in and around me.

We all need Him.

I was thinking this morning, that with the world being the way it is, we could all use the comfort of the Holy Spirit. So many of us are troubled by financial burdens, job layoffs, mental stress, doubt, and raising our children, just to name a few. I can’t recall a time when so many things were wrong all at once.

The next time that you are in prayer, why don’t you ask to be filled by the Holy Spirit? You don’t have to recite a certain prayer. In your own words, ask Him with all that is in you to be filled with His strength, comfort, and peace. I urge that you ask to receive the gift of His spirit each time you are in prayer. You will be amazed at what He will give you in return!

Contact me: sam@theseedofhope.com

Thank You

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Okay, I’m aware that today isn’t Monday. It’s just that sometimes there are thoughts that I want to share with you, and I often forget about them, either because I didn’t think they were very significant, or because I just forgot to do it! Besides, there’s no rule that says I have to wait until Monday!

I want to talk to you about sharing; not me sharing what I have with you, but you sharing what you have with me.

There are a few of you that have sent verses from the Bible to support some of the topics that I write about. Some of you have posted comments or sent e-mails citing your own experiences regarding some of the posts that I’ve made, and others have taken the time just to say thanks for openly sharing even my deepest thoughts.

And I have to tell you….AWESOME catches up with me each time I hear from one of you!

Some of you are aware of the fact that I just started reading the Bible just over a year ago. A few of you have steered me to a chapter and verse specific to a particular post, and each time it has served in strengthening my walk and made me hungry to learn even more.

Much of what I pass along to you comes from the minds and mouths of others, sometimes through books, but most often through conversations with people I meet in life; people like you.

And as far as thanking me for sharing…..look, this site is one of the passions of my life. God is the passion in my life, and talking about Him is what I enjoy most. So I want to thank you for visiting this site and for allowing me to share my spiritual journey with you!

I look forward to hearing from you…yes, you.

“See” you next Monday, if not sooner.

 God is good.

Contact me: sam@theseedofhope.com

Away from the darkness...

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Even as I was working on last Monday’s post about coincidences I was formulating ideas for this week’s topic. And I have to tell you, I was really excited about it! It was going to be about a men’s retreat, given by one of our local churches, that I attended a couple of weeks ago.

My intention was to share some of my retreat “experience” with you, and perhaps more importantly, tell you how I have felt the presence of the Holy Spirit with me since that weekend. I thought, “This is Holy Week. With all the focus in the Bible on Christ’s promise of the Holy Spirit during His last days, what better time to share the amazing amount of comfort, strength, and empowerment that I have been blessed with during the past two weeks.”

One of my favorite sayings is that “Life often gets in the way of our best intentions.” Think about that one for a minute……How many times have you meant to do something, like going to see a friend that is sick, or sitting down to write a thank you note? How about something that would improve the quality of your own life, like going to the gym, or sticking to that diet, or going to church regularly? You really meant to do those things, didn’t you? It may have been your intention to do those things, but for some reason or another, they never got done. And look, I’m not throwing stones at you; I’ve been guilty of all of the above at some time. Like I said, sometimes life just gets in the way….

From gladness to gloom.

This week, my week, which began with so much promise, so much joy, so much passion for God, and so much gratefulness for Jackie and for my family and my friends and my business and who I am and my purpose in life, and EVERYTHING turned out to be one of the most difficult weeks that I’ve had in a long time.

Every time I sat down to work on this post there was a distraction. There were computer problems in the salon, and a seemingly endless stream of people that work for us with some gripe to tell me about. Time management, usually one of my assets, mysteriously disappeared. I received some amazing, humbling, inspiring e-mails and couldn’t find time to respond to them, which made matters worse. I lost my temper at a team meeting. I lost my temper at home; Jackie and I got into a couple of disagreements over nothing. Life was everything but normal.

What made matters worse is that I was aware that I was in a funk, a downward spiral, a deep hole….during those moments when I was losing my temper, I was aware of it. I knew that I was overreacting to situations, taking things personally, and showing my derriere. I was aware of what I was doing, knew that I shouldn’t be doing it, but did it anyway. I seemingly had no control over my actions.

I think that this is a perfect time to tell you about one of my morning rituals.

Each day I get up at least 30 minutes before Jackie and head to my sanctuary, our kitchen. I take a seat in my favorite chair, my “prayer chair”, and spend those 30 minutes in prayer and reflection. I’ve followed this routine, sat in my prayer chair, since November of 2006. I’d like to spend more time talking about my chair, but I believe that it deserves a post of its own, so for now I’ll simply say that I found my salvation sitting in this chair! (I’m sitting in it at this very moment.) But this week, not even time in my prayer chair was able to turn things around for me.

Last night I lay in bed reflecting on the past few days, and came to the startling realization that I, Sam Maniscalco, Mr. Awesome Everyday, soldier of Christ, messenger of God, was without that which I try to convey to you through this site: Hope. I drifted off to sleep in prayer, asking God to help me find me.

HE answered….

As soon as I woke up this morning, before I even had time to thank God for giving me another day, I knew what had been wrong with me this week. Before I give you the answer, I’ll ask you to step outside the box of conventional ways of thinking for a minute…

In Life’s Energy, a post dated February 23^rd, I offered my belief that the closer we get to doing God’s work and to doing His will, the more Satan does to stop us dead in our tracks. I believe that witnessing to others about God and His goodness makes Satan, well, it makes him mad as hell. Be it through the bible, or church, or pastors, priests, preachers, ministers, deacons, and just plain folks like me…..every time a person takes a step towards the light of God he is taking a step away from the darkness. You think that sits well with Satan? Do you think that he is gonna sit there and watch me or anyone else try to thin his ranks? Do I have to answer either of those questions for you?

Satan came after me this week. During what it is the most important time of the year for me, as a Christian….during a time when my eyes should have been fixed firmly upon Christ on the Cross…..when I have been filled by the Holy Spirit, more ready than ever to proclaim the wonders of Christ and the miracles He has worked in my life…..when I had numerous opportunities daily to let His light shine through me, to be His soldier….I was distracted by Satan. He came after me this week, and he took me off course. But it was short lived.

Okay, this is the part where you’re going to think that I’ve lost it, but like I’ve said before, I’m not here to win a popularity contest; I just tell you what is in my heart and mind, what I believe to be true…..

This morning, I was so aware of Satan’s presence that I said a quick prayer asking God to protect Jackie and me from evil, then got out of bed, went straight to the bathroom, and spit the taste of the devil out of my mouth. Then I got back in the bed and continued with my gratitude list.

You can laugh or shake your head in disbelief if you want to; I probably would’ve done either or both a few years ago. But I’ll tell you this: almost immediately, I could feel that calmness and peace that I’ve become accustomed to replace the feelings of anxiety and darkness that have been with me this week.

Today has been an awesome day. Jackie has been in her sanctuary, our back yard, doing what she enjoys the most; landscaping. I have been doing one of the things that I enjoy most, which is writing for The Seed of Hope. We’ll go out to dinner tonight, and then return home to watch a movie, which just happens to be Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. We’ve had the DVD since it was released, but for some reason have never watched it. Actually, I know the reason….I wasn’t supposed to watch this movie until my eyes and heart were ready to truly see and feel what Christ endured for you and me.

We’ll go to church tomorrow morning celebrating the glory of the Risen Christ!

Have a Blessed and Joyful Easter!

Contact me: sam@theseedofhope.com