Fire of Conviction

It was the strangest sensation to be in complete control of my own body and will yet, compelled by the Spirit I was drawn to total submission.  I was transported in an altered conscious state fully aware of what was happening around me.  I could hear the two women praying over me invoking in Spirit and speaking in tongues; a language that is at once alien yet soothing, calming, and truly peaceful.

I felt my knees become heavy which soon gave way to a gentle collapse on the floor.  I heard myself moan, asking for God to help me.  I stayed on the floor maybe just a few minutes but I dared not open my eyes.  I saw in my mind's eye flashes of bright light.  I felt hot tears stream from my eyes.  The sensation of conviction washed over me.  I opened my heart and mind and I understood.  The Holy Spirit wants me to bring my concerns and embrace them not with a resistive defiance but as a willing gift of sacrifice.

The Life in Spirit seminar at St. Philip Neri last night was transformative.  It erased all doubts in my mind that the Holy Spirit works tirelessly; changing hearts, opening a deeper sense of seeing and hearing, leading to an irrefutable belief in the power wrought by prayer.