#104-The Holy Ghost Hangover Look

Being drunk in the Spirit is one of our bold trademarks of our Apostolic Identity. Sure it may not be precisely us who has that Holy Ghost overflow from week to week, but when the Lord reigns during service, and that Sis. So-and-So "gets it" with a loud shout and a dance to boot, we smile at God's working power. Of course there are those awkward times where the "HG Dancer" dances right up in your business....do you give him/her room to claim even more HG dancing territory? Do you block her in, informing her that while her HG dance is welcomed, it's not a free pass to scurry about the altar? But then again is that like denying the Holy Ghost itself the room it desires?

Sorry, about that rant that has only 10% relevance to this post....

Anyways...what about those moments when you are drawn in at the alter? They may not be as common as the one or two at your church who consistently "get it" but there comes those joyous occasions where the Good Lord beckons you to "come hither" into his presence...

Usually it starts with repentance and then you feel the burn in your heart....

And then you're hooked....

Before you know it, you are in the rare but wonderful "HG INTENSITY ZONE." These moments tend to happen at congress or camp, but on occasion they occur at your home altar as well...

And then after being in this "HG intense state" for an indeterminate period of time, you peel your eye lids open....

and to your shock/joy/horror you realize you are the only one at the altar....church was over a quarter past forever ago.

And then you resurrect your body to walk out of the sanctuary...

But as you gaze into the eyes of on-lookers and the shock on their face, you realize....

You have  gone through a rare Holy Ghost metamorphosis. You feel like the wind has been knocked out of you. Your eyes are bloodshot....You have the Holy Ghost hangover look

And what you deem as shock in the eyes of the onlookers is rather looks of envy, because nothing says you have just had an encounter with the G-Man upstairs than the Holy Ghost Hangover look/mood that you are reflecting...

Of course if you are on the other end of things, as the onlooker...The Holy Ghost Hangover does appear rather bizarre. You don't quite look like a zombie, but you don't exactly look "intoxicated." It looks like you went to take on the town for the evening and instead the town ate you alive....Your shirt's untucked with inside-out pockets accompanying (Does God turn your pockets inside out in prayer without your permission?!?)...

On the inside the Holy Ghost receiver feels like they have won the lottery. On the outside it looks like the Holy Ghost receiver had not only lost the lottery but was given the sole burden of paying off the lottery to the actual winner. But because they couldn't afford to pay off that lottery, they were beaten senselessly for the entire night by a pair of Bitter Irish Farmers post-potato famine (circa late 19th century) armed with this weapon: