Reflection for Sunday, May 31, 2020 – Pentecost Sunday!
Scripture: Acts 2:1-4
“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.”
Reflection:
Holy cow! Must have been quite the scene – violent wind, tongues of fire, and everyone babbling in countless different languages! And “all of them” were touched by the Divine, filled with the Spirit of God. And each one of them had a new voice, a voice inspired by this sudden awareness of a new reality.
I like to think they were all wakened up to the very real and palpable presence of God within them – a mountain top experience for sure! So exciting, so transforming, so challenging – what do I do with my life now that I know that I am an intimate part of the power I call God? And let us not forget that this is exactly the power that was promised – a gift of the Holy Spirit – promised to his followers by Jesus as the Christ. We totally get it that he, Jesus, was divine as well as human. What we like to forget is that the Divine lives in each of us too.
This divine within us is our spiritual nature – the part of us that aligns with God – with all that is good. And this is not to say that evil does not exist – it surely does, and within each of us to some extent also. We are complex and complicated beings, but we are children of the Creator, inheritors of the kingdom. We like to say we are followers of Jesus, fellow travellers on the road, and I think this is accurate. Sometimes we call that road “the Way” – the way of Love, the path traced out for us by Jesus. Now any road or “way” leads somewhere – requires some effort to move along it. Our spiritual journey is no different. We must struggle with our own demons, defeat our own dragons, integrate all the different parts of ourselves (including the unsavoury) so that we win out to the goal – healing ourselves into wholeness.
And God is with us. We are not alone. Ask for strength for the journey, and the help you need shall be given. Thanks be to God.
My inspiration for this morning’s reflection came from this old hymn: “Breathe on Me, Breath of God.”
Breathe on me breath of God, fill me with life anew, that I may love what thou dost love, and do what thou wouldst do.
Breathe on me breath of God, till I am wholly thine, until this earthly part of me glows with thy fire divine.
Breathe on me breath of God: so shall I never die, but live with thee the perfect life of thine eternity.
Amen and amen! May the Force be with you!
Scripture: Acts 2:1-4
“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.”
Reflection:
Holy cow! Must have been quite the scene – violent wind, tongues of fire, and everyone babbling in countless different languages! And “all of them” were touched by the Divine, filled with the Spirit of God. And each one of them had a new voice, a voice inspired by this sudden awareness of a new reality.
I like to think they were all wakened up to the very real and palpable presence of God within them – a mountain top experience for sure! So exciting, so transforming, so challenging – what do I do with my life now that I know that I am an intimate part of the power I call God? And let us not forget that this is exactly the power that was promised – a gift of the Holy Spirit – promised to his followers by Jesus as the Christ. We totally get it that he, Jesus, was divine as well as human. What we like to forget is that the Divine lives in each of us too.
This divine within us is our spiritual nature – the part of us that aligns with God – with all that is good. And this is not to say that evil does not exist – it surely does, and within each of us to some extent also. We are complex and complicated beings, but we are children of the Creator, inheritors of the kingdom. We like to say we are followers of Jesus, fellow travellers on the road, and I think this is accurate. Sometimes we call that road “the Way” – the way of Love, the path traced out for us by Jesus. Now any road or “way” leads somewhere – requires some effort to move along it. Our spiritual journey is no different. We must struggle with our own demons, defeat our own dragons, integrate all the different parts of ourselves (including the unsavoury) so that we win out to the goal – healing ourselves into wholeness.
And God is with us. We are not alone. Ask for strength for the journey, and the help you need shall be given. Thanks be to God.
My inspiration for this morning’s reflection came from this old hymn: “Breathe on Me, Breath of God.”
Breathe on me breath of God, fill me with life anew, that I may love what thou dost love, and do what thou wouldst do.
Breathe on me breath of God, till I am wholly thine, until this earthly part of me glows with thy fire divine.
Breathe on me breath of God: so shall I never die, but live with thee the perfect life of thine eternity.
Amen and amen! May the Force be with you!
