Not many people remember the...
Illustration
Not many people remember the days when news and other messages traveled by telegraph. Wires were strung from place to place and a transmitter, in some distant place, would activate electrical impulses sent through the wire. At the receiving end, the telegraph key, a silent and powerless piece of brass, would suddenly jiggle and jump, clack and rattle, as the message crackled across the wires. The noise was meaningless, except to operators who could understand the code and translate it into letters and words. Then the message took shape and made sense. Similarly, the Spirit of God comes into our lives. We are the ones who must interpret his Word and his will in our everyday activities and contacts. Like the telegraph key, we may be silent and powerless, until we receive the message of Jesus Christ calling us to service. Then a flame leaps high on the altar of our lives and we can translate his will to others. This happens not only to old saints, like Augustine, or modern saints, like Albert Schweitzer or Father Damien or Mother Teresa. It can happen to anyone.
