Seeping of the Holy Spirit

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! (Galatians 5:22-23, NLT).

Growing up, my brother, David, and I spent a lot of time at my Mammaw Delaney’s house. There are so many things I remember about our visits to her house: sleepovers, trips to Burger King, having yard sales, listening to Mother Angelica say the rosary on EWTN, and accompanying Mammaw on her trips to the hair salon.

We spent so much time over there as kids that I grew accustomed to the smell of smoke that accompanied entering her home. After she had a stroke, and was moved to a nursing home until she passed in 2007, we didn’t spend much time there anymore.

I missed spending time there with her so much, but I distinctly remember going back to the house after she had passed. The smell of smoke, which I had developed a habituation to, hit me like a ton of bricks. Habituation, as defined by the American Psychological Association (APA), is “a decrease in response to a stimulus after repeated presentations.1 “

Smoking is one of those things that seeps into every single part of our environment if it’s a habit we choose to engage in frequently. Everything in her home smelled like smoke. Her clothes, her furniture, and even the wallpaper. Because it was something she and my Pappaw had done for years, it had become part of their home. In life, habituation happens all the time. That can be good or bad, depending on the stimulus.

When I moved into the apartments at Georgetown College I woke up every night for the first two weeks from the sound of a train rumbling by at 2am. My body developed a habituation to the sound, and after a few weeks, I stopped waking up, which was a positive response. If someone is raised in a home where lying is modeled as an acceptable form of communication, over time our response to the behavior is diminished. Without negative consequences, it becomes deemed as normal, and often the negative behavior is modeled.

When we lose our ability to respond to a negative stimulus, we must be removed from the stimulus long enough for our brains to re-train its ability to respond appropriately. It took me being removed from my grandparents home for an extended period of time for my brain to again become sensitized to the smell of smoke.

What have you allowed to become normalized that may be having a negative impact on those you love?

Cussing. Lying. Dysfunctional communication. Abuse of any kind. Anger.

This list is short, but the possibilities are endless. Because we live in a broken, sinful world we are constantly exposed to stimuli that create a habituation response that leads us towards normalizing behaviors that have a negative impact on our heart and Holy Spirit.

I want there to be a seeping of the Holy Spirit in my life.

Galatians 5:22-23 reminds us: “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”

When I think back to the time I spent with my Mammaw (Pappaw passed when we were quite a bit younger), I think of it fondly. However, those memories are steeped in the smell of smoke. When I think about that, it leads me to ask the question: What association do I want my loved ones to remember in their interactions with me? Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Faithfulness. Gentleness. Self-control. When we allow our lives to be guided by the Holy Spirit, may the fruits of the Spirit be what seeps from our hearts, and overflows into the lives of those we love most.

1. APA Dictionary of Psychology. Habituation.

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