Fire of the Spirit

This morning, I had one of the most intense spiritual conversations I have had for some time - with one of the fire fighters who visited our Holiday Club. We talked of good and evil, of love and death, of angst and expression, of the dark side and edgy music, of the pursuit of happiness and inner contentment...
Conversations like that used to be more frequent when I served as a hospital chaplain but, now that I am a parish minister and, in many ways, more identified with the institutional church, it is, for some reason - probably many reasons - hard to get beyond the religious and denominational pleasantries.
This morning, it was good to be able to affirm once more that I am "right off religion" and not experience a shocked reaction.
A brief encounter - but a breath of fresh air. Thanks be to God.