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They Have No Wine

 I was hanging out in John 2 the other day. This title is what Mary said to Jesus, when she discovered they were out of wine. Jesus's response is kind of cryptic, but we can say humorously that no self-respecting son can say no to his mother, at least within the bounds of propriety.

It's worth saying that Jesus was thinking of His mission as a whole, and how miracles would fit or not fit within it. Perhaps he even knew that doing this miracle would start the clock in a sense, for his opposition, which will lead to his death.

As I meditated upon all this, it came to me in this way: "they have no joy". I could see in my mind many people I know who were on the ragged edge of life, especially in these days. Wine is a symbol of abundance and joy in the Scriptures. I needed therefore to ask for the joy of the Holy Spirit, and to ask God to make me a conduit for the joy of the Holy Spirit to others.

It is even more important to say that the joy of the Holy Spirit has nothing to do with current difficult circumstances. We can be physically hurting--downright suffering--and still have this joy. I suppose we could even be emotionally suffering and have this joy, but that seems like it would be harder. This is all the more reason to recognize the extra weight of the cross, if we have a mental health issue. We might not even be able by ourselves to correctly ascertain our own circumstances.

In any case, we need true joy, and therefore, we need to pray to the Holy Spirit. That's weird for some of us, because we have misunderstood the Holy Spirit as a strange impersonal force, and not a Person of the Trinity.

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