Shudathmeni

Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit,
Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit,
pouring down your gifts,
fill my life with your light
Holy Spirit who dwells and works within a perfect love,
with your sevenfold gifts, make us fruitful, Holy Spirit
accomplish your good will, and our plans,
being light all along the road we travel
Holy Spirit…

Make clear for us the way of life, my Lord,
and free us also from all confusion, my Lord
letting us grasp your way with understanding and wisdom,
being light for the journey of our lives
Holy Spirit…

This is a hymn to the Holy Spirit, and it is essentially a prayer for guidance and light. The name is invoked over and over, “Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit,” like a knocking at heaven’s door, and the first request sets the theme for the whole song: “pouring down your gifts, fill my life with your light.” In Christian understanding the Spirit is the presence of God at work inside the believer, and the singer longs to be filled with that presence.

The prayer draws on the traditional idea of the “sevenfold gifts” of the Holy Spirit, wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge, and the rest, asking that with them “make us fruitful.” And it hands over both God’s purposes and the singer’s own, “accomplish your good will, and our plans,” trusting the Spirit to be “light all along the road we travel.” It is the humble posture of someone who does not want to walk by their own dim sight.

The final verse makes that longing concrete. “Make clear for us the way of life,” and “free us also from all confusion,” a very honest admission that life is often bewildering. The remedy asked for is not certainty imposed from outside but inner illumination, “letting us grasp your way with understanding and wisdom, being light for the journey of our lives.” What the listener is left with is a gentle, trusting plea, a believer who feels the fog of confusion and asks the Spirit of God simply to be the light that shows the next step, all the way home.