"Who is the Holy Spirit?" Scripture, Tradition, Reason/Experience

July 15th we grappled with Who Is the Holy Spirit.  Here is what we remembered from the following sources:

Bible
We are baptized with the Holy Spirit
brooding upon the chaos
comforter
encourager
breath of God
flames (descended on heads at Pentecost)
Giver of Life
giver of abilities/gifts
fruits of the Spirit
Jesus left, the Holy Spirit remains
wind of God
creative force/creator
comes upon, inspires (Isaiah 61)
advocate
paraclete
sword
word of God
enabler of prayer


Tradition
dove
binds Christ and the church
binds Father and Son
binds us all together in the church
sustainer
3rd part of trinity
fire
is a gift
perpetual light
God at work in the world
breathe of God
breath of life, "Ruach"
teacher
enables us to grow
spoke through the prophets
harmonizes God, self, neighbor, and all creation
divine comforter
sanctifies us
associated with speaking in tongues, healing, teaching, abundant joy, snake handling, slane in spirit, fearlessness.
fruits: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control
Nicene creed:  Eastern (Spirit and Jesus from Father), Western (Jesus from Father and Spirit)
gender-sometimes the Spirit is female
Christ made incarnate by the Holy Spirit
No one has more or less of the Holy Spirit--we've all got it.

Our Reason/Experience
The Spirit interrupts us!
Love
strengthens us in love and good works
always with us
always comforts us
transcends words, reason
equality--we are all equal in God's eyes and all have the gift of the Holy Spirit
with us in chaos
the Spirit is God operating in the material AND psychological realm
I get promptings from the Holy Spirit, and when I listen they're always needed/right
"the Spirit will bring all to your remembrance"--helps us know what is important
I am able to live through difficult times because the Holy Spirit is with me
I can *feel* being held up in prayer--this is through the Holy Spirit
the Spirit holds people together in abundant joy, like at camp
I feel the Holy Spirit among people when we're enjoying live music together
I miss talking about the Holy Ghost because the root of "ghost" and "guest" is the same