Holy Spirit Conversation Starters
These writings are the accumulation of conversations I’ve had with the Holy Spirit over the past several years - a period of time following hard on the heels of 13 years I spent in treatment resistant depression.  I wrote them down as they came to me, mostly in a small walk-in closet where I went to cry, then to pray, then to praise, and eventually to cry again with joy instead of grief.  It is still where I go each day I can, and where I still cry, praise, and pray in various proportions and sequence.  It is the most real place in the world to me.  I’m learning to take it with me; to be more real everywhere and to see more of the real wherever I am.  And I’m learning to continue the conversation with the Holy Spirit all day.
What should I call these words?  I think they fall into three categories:  proverbs, parables, and psalms.  Psalms are the inspired prayers recorded in the Bible.  Proverbs are the bite sized pieces of inspired wisdom recorded there.  Parables are stories with an inspirational point. Inspire.  That’s the theme.  The word means literally to take in air.  In my case I am recording Holy Spirit wisdom, stories, and prayers.  He is the air I take into my life and what I want to breathe into you, dear reader.  Think of these pages as spiritual mouth to mouth  resuscitation. The Spirit brought me back to life with His breath and now I give this life to you.  These proverbs, parables and prayers were gathered and recorded as I began the long walk out of the Valley of the Shadow of Death; in a time where I had been “mostly dead” for many years.
I make no claim of infallibility, nor do I claim authority other than the fact that I am the author of these writings.  I do claim, as far as I understand it, inspiration, and that is why I offer these puffs of air to you.  The Spirit of God lives in me.  He speaks with me.  He loves me.  He inspired me to write.  I believe He has done this with many others through the years:  Madame Guyon, A.W. Tozer, Brother Lawrence, Andrew Murray, were all swept along in His love and His breath.  There is a quality about some holy writing that brings about the only change worth obtaining in this world; a greater, more intense love for God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I’ve benefited greatly by the words of men and women who shared their experiences through their inspired writings.  I offer my own now with the hopes they will bring you into a more authentic relationship with God, yourself, and others, and that your love for all three will abound.