On the Holy Spirit

Recently, I've been thinking much about the Holy Spirit. A big part of that is because I'm taking a summer course called "Theology of the Holy Spirit." Doing my readings, and the research and the writing I have to do, has caused me to reflect much on the Third Person of the Trinity. I really don't think that I had a very Trinitarian view of God prior to taking this course. In many ways, I haven't really thought of the Holy Spirit. He was more of an aside. Yes, I know that He is a part of the Trinity. Yes, I know that He is very much involved in the sanctification process that every Christian goes through. But in terms of my thinking about who God is, I really think that the term God was mainly limited to thoughts of God the Father. After that, then God the Son. And as some sidekick comes the Holy Spirit. I was struck by this realization as I reflected on my thinking about God and how I definitely did not have a very Trinitarian view of God.

As I reflect on the Holy Spirit, I am more and more amazed by Him. The Spirit is the animating principle of life. He is a veritable part of the Tri-union God. Pretty amazing! He is the giver of life, not only in a spiritual sense, but in a very tangible, physical way. The very thought makes my mind swirl! Oh how I am amazed by You!!!

On a random piece of writing I found while cleaning my room

While I was cleaning my room, I came upon this piece of paper and was wondering for the life of me what essay was I in the process of writing and for what course? Here's a writing that I apparently have written about the role of women in religion. I have no idea when I wrote it but it was probably for my Sociology of Religion class in university.

Women have played an integral part in religion. Although the official religions have often downplayed or gave a more subservient role to women, they still are the major consumers of religion. Of course, because of the distinction between official and non-official religion, we can also see the distinction between the roles that women serve under these two different social spheres. Women in official religion, for the most part, are not fully recognized in the role they play while women in non-official religion are more visible in terms of the power and role that they hold.

Gender roles play an important part in sociology because it explains why people act the way they act. To a large degree, gender roles dominate our interaction between each other. Generations of cultural bias against women have stood the test of time leading us in a an era of female submission to men. This can be seen in how the official religions delegate power within the church. Oftentimes, the position of the deacon, the elder and the pastor in a denomination belong to the males. Females are subjugated to a lesser role. Women are the ones who, by and large, regulate the affairs of the church. They often do the household chores such as cooking, cleaning, and arranging the flowers in the pulpit. They may be involved in organizing meetings between the ladies of the church and formulating a schedule of who should bring snacks during meetings. Seldom is the woman in a position of power. Although there are a greater number of females today who are preaching, their numbers still do not compare with the male majority. Thus, women in official religions, although they possess the informal power within the church, do not, for the most part, occupy positions of formal power within the church.

The fact that women are often in low positions of power have led women to seek "greener pastures." They often find this "greener pasture" in non-official religions. To better understand this argument, it is beneficial to first state the difference between official and non-official religions. Also, the difference between organized and non-organized religions must be stated to further comprehend the argument.

I don't know where the rest of this paper is. I hope I ended up writing this paper. :P

Thoughts? Comments?