Henry
Nouwen wrote, “Drinking the cup that Jesus drank is living a life in and with
the Spirit of Jesus, which is the Spirit of unconditional love. The intimacy
between Jesus and Abba, his Father, is an intimacy of complex trust, in which
there are no power games, no mutually agreed upon promises, no advance
guarantees. It is only love—pure, unrestrained, and unlimited love. Completely
open, completely free. That intimacy gave Jesus the strength to drink his cup.
That same intimacy Jesus wants to give us so that we can drink ours. That
intimacy has a Name, a Divine Name. It is called Holy Spirit. Living a
spiritual life is living a life in which the Holy Spirit will guide us and give
us the strength and courage to keep saying yes to the great question. (Can You Drink the
Cup? Henri J. M. Nouwen: p. 119).
Nouwen’s
words were penned with a deep desire to be faithful, a faithfulness that cannot
be achieved without an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit
of the Living God. I imagine we can empathize with Bishop Rueben Job’s words in
his book on prayer life: “I have seen
failure and success, loss and gain, and more times than I wish I have failed to
live up to my own prayer, to be faithful.” 
Praying is a spiritual
discipline that is not just about the time set aside to connect to the Divine,
but about all the moments in between when God’s divine presence and
unconditional love encourages and strengthens us. I find great comfort in
knowing Jesus is praying for me and even though I sometimes fail to be all God
wants me to be, the Holy Spirit is with me every step of the way not judging,
but encouraging me in the journey.
© Edward E. Judy, Original publication The Morrow Mirror, Morrow First United Methodist Church May 18, 2014
