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
