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“The love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, which has been given us.” —Romans 5:5

To span the infinite gap between the Divine and the human, God’s agenda is to plant a little bit of God, the Holy Spirit, right inside of us! (Jeremiah 31:31-34; John 14:16ff).

This is the very meaning of the new covenant, and the replacing of the “heart of stone with a heart of flesh,” as Ezekiel promised (36:25-27). Isn’t that wonderful? It is God doing the loving, in and through us, back to God, towards our neighbor and enemy alike, and even towards the sad and broken parts of ourselves. “You will know him because God (Spirit) is with you… God (Spirit) is within you.”

+Adapted from “Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality,” p. 97

The last time I was in Ireland, I was taught by a local pub employee how to pour the “perfect” pint of Guinness. It’s a three-part procedure that requires patience, a steady hand, and an astute attention to detail.

The first pour fills the glass about three-fourths full. Then the glass sits for a couple of minutes to let the beer settle down. Next, the glass is slowly filled to about 95 percent capacity and allowed to sit for another couple of minutes. The third stage requires gently inserting the long spout below the thick foamy head, and slowly pouring beer until the head (about three-eighths of an inch) rises comfortably at—and slightly above—the rim of the glass (without spilling over the glass). It’s known as the “perfect pour,” and is pretty much the expectation and part of the overall ambiance of any noble drinking establishment in that country.

Strong’s Concordance interprets the word ekchunnō (in Romans 5:5) as to pour out… figuratively to bestow: gushed, poured, rushed headlong, shed, spilled. It seems that the Holy Spirit is excited to, eager to, even over-willing to pour love into us in super-abundance. It makes me wonder if this is what gives the Spirit chill-bumps—when we release what has been given to us by the Divine and, in turn, pour our love into whatever we encounter in this life? Maybe that’s the logical finish to the “perfect pour”—a consumable product for another’s thirsty soul. —MDP