Spirit

2 Kings 2. 1 - 18

Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.’ Elisha said, ‘Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.’

In the reading from Kings appointed for today, Elijah knows it is time to go and in preparation, he asks Elisha what he can do for him. This line strikes me as one of the most beautiful requests in scripture...up there with Father forgive them and Remember me when you come into your kingdom.

Recently I had a conversation with friends about the willing spirit and the weak flesh. None of us could remember where it came from; some said Shakespeare, some said scripture, some said culture.

But it is from the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus's words to Peter after he had fallen asleep in the garden

Matthew 26. 41

Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

From whom would you like to inherit a "double share of spirit" and why?