One of the silly things my siblings and I did as kids (especially in the winter when the air was dry) was to drag our sock-covered feet on the carpet and then try to shock one another with static electricity. Sometimes, we made a game of it; other times, it was just a way to surprise a family member with a slight jolt. Things got crazy when we turned off the lights so that we could see the spark. Welcome to pre-video-game-and-smart-phone entertainment. I was thinking about this as an image of evangelization.
The poet Gerard Manly Hopkins wrote that “the world is charged with the grandeur of God.” God’s presence flows like an electric current through everything, but we’ve lost sight of this reality.
Evangelizing person to person involves building up a “spiritual charge” within oneself through prayer, reflection and a profoundly personal relationship with faith and God. This is how we spiritually drag our socks across the carpet to create a potential spiritual spark that can ignite a connection with the divine within someone else.
At its core, evangelization is the heartfelt sharing of one’s faith with others, a person-to-person connection that sparks the light of spiritual awareness. Much like static electricity, the process is characterized by a subtle yet powerful exchange that can potentially create a profound impact.
St. Paul says we should clothe ourselves in compassion, humility, patience and forgiveness when encountering others (Colossians 3:12-14). This is the proper fuel for the spark.
A true spark of evangelization can lead to a moment of illumination, a connection between the evangelizer and the recipient’s heart that transcends mere words. This spark can ignite a curiosity about faith, a desire to explore the mysteries of the divine and a yearning for a deeper connection with the spiritual realm. The evangelizer becomes a conduit for the divine energy, a vessel through which the transformative power of faith can flow. The spark may be immediate and intense or smolder quietly beneath the surface, gradually influencing a person’s journey over time. The key lies in the authenticity and sincerity of the evangelizer, as well as the recipient’s openness to receiving the spiritual charge being offered.
On the other hand, a spark of self-righteousness will turn people away because it is more about the evangelizer than Jesus. In a world hungry for genuine connections and spiritual meaning, the person-to-person evangelization process is a beacon of light, illuminating the path toward a richer, more profound relationship with the divine.