Why don’t Christians talk more about the Holy Spirit? So asks Dan Edelen in a blog post from early last year. He wants to know why Christian blogs, bookstores, and churches are full of talk about just about every imaginable topic… but seem strangely silent about the third person of the Trinity.

This question came up indirectly at church earlier this month when a long-time member of my congregation finally made an official profession of faith after decades of attending and participating in church life. He cited a decades-long personal struggle over the doctrine of the Holy Spirit as one of the reasons he had hitherto felt unable to publicly profess his Christian faith.

That, and Dan’s post above, really stuck with me, because they made me realize how little I talk (or even think) about the Holy Spirit compared to the persons of God the Father and Jesus the Son. And I can’t think of a compelling reason why this is the case. I certainly believe in the Holy Spirit and Christian teachings about His role. But somehow talking about the Father and the Son comes more naturally to me when discussing my faith.

Have you noticed this relative silence about the Holy Spirit in your church or in the blogs and books you read? Does the phrase “Holy Spirit” conjure up too many uncomfortable images of snake-handling charismatics and other fringe movements? Or does the average Christian struggle to understand the role that the Holy Spirit plays in the grand spiritual scheme of things? Does the Holy Spirit feel more “impersonal” at first glance than the Father and Son? What do you think?