Pentecost: God's Breath

Pentecost

“When the Day of Pentecost had come, the disciples were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind.” Acts 2:1-2.

“..he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” John 20: 22

Pentecost banner and dove St. Luke's Episcopal Church North Little Rock

Barbara Brown Taylor describes two versions of Pentecost, the gentle breeze in John as Jesus breathes into the few disciples  fearfully gathered the night of his resurrection and the violent wind Pentecost described in Acts where the Holy Spirit goes all over the place with tongues of fire to over at least 100 people.  The disciples with the gentle wind Pentecost are commissioned to take the Spirit out into the world. The ministry of the violent wind disciples is to seek and fan the Spirit already present in the world.  Taylor  challenges us  that disciples in both Pentecost stories, those of a gentle breeze or the violent wind congregations are commissioned  to find that Holy Spirit within them and others and take it out of their churches into the world.

The same is true of the Spirit, the Christ, within us. We are called to connect to that Spirit within us and then go out and connect to the Christ in others. If we don’t we are like the disciples in John locked up in a dark room for fear of losing what we have. Only when we connect our Spirit to the Christ in others do we know that peace, joy, love that we are seeking. Our God also becomes larger as we become aware of the magnitude of God’s creation and love.

Happy Pentecost.

Barbara Brown Taylor, “God’s Breath,” Journal for Preachers, Pentecost 2003, pp. 37-40.

Joanna Seibert joannaseibert.com

Laird: God's Presence/Absence

“Union with God is not something we acquire by a technique. Because God is the ground of our being, separation is impossible. God does not know how to be absent.” Martin Laird, Inward Outward daily quote, May 16, 2018.

Cannon Beach by Joanna Campbell

We may feel that God is not beside us or that we have been abandoned by God, but Martin Laird reminds us that God is never absent. Never absent. Never absent. We need to remind ourselves about this every day, every moment. We are never alone. The vastness of God’s presence and God’s love is greater than we can know or feel or imagine.

My experience is that when I start asking for more love from friends and family than they can give, this is a stop sign that I have become disconnected from God’s presence. I am asking others to give more love than they can give because I do not feel God’s love’s. When I talk to people in spiritual direction who feel estranged from God, I remind them of my experience.

So, how do we change? How do we feel God’s presence and God’s love rather than God’s absence? My experience is that we have become disconnected especially with the Christ within us.  There are a multitude of ways to try to put ourselves in position to know and feel that love of God that is always there. That is the purpose of all of the spiritual exercises. Some make gratitude lists.  Some try to be more intentional about their prayer time, spending more time with God, listening instead of talking. Some spend more time in Nature where God’s presence and beauty is overwhelming.

Another place we are told God is always present is among the sick, the poor, the needy, the lonely. My experience is that visiting those in need is one of the surest way to connect with the Christ in another who then reflects to us the Christ in ourselves that has been there all along. Working at a food pantry, visiting the sick, sitting with someone who is lonely is where we find God.

The paradox is that getting out of ourselves leads us back to the God within.

Joanna  joannaseibert.com

Nouwen: Love

Nouwen: Love

“Hope and faith will both come to an end when we die. But love will remain. Love is eternal. Love comes from God and returns to God. When we die, we will lose everything that life gave us except love. The love with which we lived our lives is the life of God within us.” Henri Nouwen, Henri Nouwen Society Daily Meditation, May 17, 2018, from Henri Nouwen, Bread for the Journey, HarperSanFrancisco. 1997.

a grandfather and two granddaughters who are graduating next week

As we grow older, we think about our legacy, what we will leave behind and what we carry with us. Henri Nouwen reminds us that what we take with us is love. I think that what we leave behind also is love. As I remember those who have died, I most hold onto and remember how well they loved. The honors, the prestige, the medals, the positions fall away. What seems to matter most is how they loved, often in face of great difficulty or with  a horrendous past.

I have recently met with a group of friends I have known for over forty years in my medical specialty at our international meeting. We often end up talking about those in our profession who have died. This is what transpires. We hear and share stories of how they were kind to others, gave us a chance when no others would, threw wedding showers for us when no family members could, asked about and showed concern for sick family members. Rarely do we mention the brilliant diagnoses they made. Instead we remember their kindness to us, to patients, and to those they worked with. We rarely mentioned the giants in our medical specialty who were so wrapped up in their own careers that they could never love or care for others. When we did talk about them, they were a reminder to each of us of the kind of person we do not want to be.

 I also remember those who love without conditions, not requiring anything back, loving no matter what happens. My experience is that this is most often the love offered by grandparents. This is a privilege that should not be forgotten.

Joanna joannaseibert.com

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