From the locum
Whichever way we look at the symbolism in the account of the first Pentecost, it is about a mind-blowing, heart-searching moment. The wind of change challenges and disturbs not only individuals but whole communities. Martin Luther King spoke of the storm which will not abate until a just distribution of the fruits of the earth enables all people to live dignified and decent lives. Spirituality does not exist separately from the social context. Look at when and where the story in Acts is set. The Spirit coming is about more than individual inwardness. It means engagement: what we do with the material part of our lives; how we connect with other people, how we relate to other living things, how we walk on the earth.
Pentecost isn’t a once and for all happening but ongoing and energising hope right here, right now, in this world, in this place. It’s about that which sustains us, enables us, provokes a just anger in us and arouses our compassion. It’s about spirit-filled life bursting out of encounters with darkness and suffering and it’s characterised by joy – not the shallow cheeriness of jolly Christians but the deep joy of those who hope and hear the bird’s song in the storm.
Fr Michael