PENTECOST: Remembrance and Prayer

We are quickly approaching Pentecost, the Sunday that recalls the Coming of the Holy Spirit to strengthen the Disciples of Jesus after his Ascension.

Now that is a mouthful, isn’t it?  Simply put, Pentecost is the Sunday that we remember Jesus’ promise that he would share the presence of the Holy Spirit with each of us.  That each of us would literally be a sanctuary of the presence of God.  Now that isn’t just a mouthful, for many of us that’s beyond our wildest imaginings.

Every month the United Church of Christ offers quotations that are descriptive of the liturgical season.

One that truly made me stop and stare and read it at least three times is this African Proverb, Ghana:

"If you want to speak to God, tell it to the wind."

Now that might sound pretty so-so to you, however, one day this past Fall I went to prayer with a heart overflowing with grief.  My Mother died suddenly in August.  Her loss really knocked the breath out of our family since it was so unexpected.  My Mom was a truly beautiful woman and we had enjoyed not only a Mother-Daughter relationship; we were also best friends.  We did everything together.  So my heart was full of grief and in prayer I cried out, “I need your help.  I have to get on with my life and all I seem to be able to do is cry.  What can I do to get past this loss?” 

The response was so clear, “You know how I come to you in the WIND?” 

Yes, I did know.  Often I felt the kiss of Spirit in the Wind.  “Your Mother will come to you in the WIND.”

I wasn’t quite sure what to make of that.  I ended my prayer time and went head long into my day and when I came home the tears began to flow once again.  My dear friend, Chris, took one look at me and suggested that I go to my prayer bench in the back yard and get myself grounded.  It was a beautiful Fall day.  The sky was so blue and the sun was nearly noon.  I faced the East where the large GrandFather Tree stands – so regal and tall.  The air was still and very cool, so I wrapped myself in my prayer shawl and let the tears roll as I faced the Sun and asked for relief from this overwhelming grief. 

I heard a strange noise and wondered what it was but I continued my prayer facing East into the warm sunshine.

The sound didn’t stop.  In fact it grew and grew until my prayer was disturbed by its persistence and I turned around to see the large trees behind me were blowing and bowing so deeply in the rushing, gushing, determined wind that my first instinct was to run inside for fear of the trees falling or losing a branch. 

Then my dulled senses awoke!

I looked again at the large GrandFather Tree before me and NOT ONE LEAF WAS MOVING – THERE WAS NO WIND IN THE EAST.

I turned around again and directly behind me on my less than a quarter acre lot, the trees continued their wind roaring sound as they bent and bowed.

In that moment, I got it!  I heard the inner voice again: “Your Mother will come to you in the WIND!”

Now I cried amazed tears of joy and relief.  OMG!!!

How can this be?

God, the Holy Spirit, comes to each of us every day filling us with blessing and possibilities that we cannot even imagine.  Sometimes God goes out of her way to impress us with the reality of her deep love and abiding presence with us.

This Sunday is Pentecost.  The day we set aside to remind us of the BIG WIND in our lives that IS OUR LIFE if we just let it.

"I believe in the surprises of the Holy Spirit."

--L.J. Suenens, 20th century

Pastor Carol

"Dreams grow holy put in action."

--Adelaide Anne Procter, 19th century

"A great wind is blowing, and that gives you either imagination or a headache."

--Catherine the Great, 18th century 

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

--Howard Thurman, 20th century