In this week's gospel Jesus tells the disciples in their final moments together that when he is gone they will be able not only to do all of the incredible things they have seen him do over the course of his ministry, but "even greater things than these." And how will they be able to do these incredible things? Jesus tells them that he will ask God to send them an Advocate, the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit. Interestingly though, Jesus doesn't just say that he will ask God to send an Advocate, but another Advocate. If God will send another Advocate in the future, that means the disciples have already had an advocate with them this whole time. Is Jesus this Advocate?
If so, we can get a sense of how this Spirit of Truth, Advocate, and Helper works by looking back and seeing how Jesus occupied this role with the disciples. He invited them into something new and uncertain, he taught them about the primacy of connection and liberation in God's kingdom, he empowered them to go out and share this message with others, he washed their feet, he called out oppressive structures and systems, he critiqued religious practices and practitioners, he called his community back to its roots, and he did it all with a compassionate, loving, and forceful clarity. Jesus is telling the disciples that the ability to do all these things, and more, already lives inside of them. They have access to this Spirit of Truth energy as well.
This week, pay attention to how you encounter these energies of truth-telling, healing, connection, liberation, critical perception, and compassion within yourself. How do they show up in your life? How are you being invited to connect even more deeply with these powers that already abide in you?