Toward Sunday

We move this Sunday to Pentecost and celebrate the Holy Spirit moving among God’s people.  You can read about this event here:  Acts 2:1-21.  Pentecost literally means “50^th-day” and was used by the diaspora Jews for a day-long harvest festival more commonly know as the “Feast of Week” or Shavuot.  It was scheduled for the 50days following Passover.  Pentecost was one of three pilgrimage feasts when the entire household of Israel gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the goodness of God toward the nation. It was at this event that God breaks into human affairs and moves “like a “violent wind” and appears like “tongues of fire”.  From these descriptions we have traditions of red/yellow/orange/gold colors in our places of worship on Pentecost. Often the scripture is read in different languages to celebrate God’s coming in this unique way.  All of this is an effort to capture in word and image the power of God’s spirit coming at a certain moment. (taken from New Interpreter’s Bible commentary on Acts)

But what is meant by “Spirit”?  Frederick Buechner sheds light on this in his book Wishful Thinking.  He writes:  “The latin word spiritus originally meant breath (as in expire, respiratory etc.) and breath is what you have when you’re alive and don’t have when you’re dead.  Thus spirit = breath = life, the aliveness and power of your life, and to speak of your spirit (or soul) is to speak of the power of life that is in you.  When your spirit is unusually strong, the life in you unusually alive, you can breathe it out into other lives, become literally in-spiring.”

Each week we gather  around Kitchen Tables and pose the question “How is it with your soul”?  

This week we will also ask “How is it with your spirit?”  What is alive within you that you can’t help but “breathe out” and become in-spiring to your neighbor?

The Hebrew word for spirit is “ruach”.  Our theme song for Pentecost Sunday is “Tongues of Fire” composed by David Scherer and shared by our music team. With this and other music by Sankofa we will “Rock to the rhythm of Ruach” as we seek to experience the spirit of Pentecost.

All are welcome!