Reflections on surprise, disruption and the Holy Spirit: themes from Pentecost and Acts 2
It is not light that we need, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. — Frederick Douglass
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. — Khalil Gibran
Pentecost Blessing — Jan Richardson
On the day when you are wearing
your certainty like a cloak
and your sureness goes before you
like a shield or like a sword,
may the sound of God’s name
spill from your lips as you have never heard it before.
May your knowing be undone.
May mystery confound your understanding.
May the Divine rain down in strange syllables
yet with an ancient familiarity,
a knowing borne in the blood,
the ear, the tongue,
bringing the clarity that comes
not in stone or in steel
but in fire, in flame.
May there come one searing word:
enough to bare you to the bone,
enough to set your heart ablaze,
enough to make you whole again.
Questions to consider about Acts 2: 1-21:
- What gifts do you believe you have received from the Spirit?
- When have you felt connected to something larger than yourself?
- When have you had a sense that you’ve lost control and your expectations have been overturned? What happened next? Did that experience make a lasting change in you?
- When have you felt like a ‘stranger in a strange land?’ What helped you reconnect?
Music about fire, wind, breath and Spirit:
- Dancin’ in the Dark by Bruce Springsteen (rock)
- Sailing by Christopher Cross (pop/soft rock)
- Come Alive (Dry Bones) by Lauren Daigle (Christian)
- We Didn’t Start the Fire by Billy Joel (rock)
- Colors of the Wind performed by Judy Kuhn (musical)
- Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash (country)
- Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles (rock)
- Mandolin Wind by Ron Wood & Rod Stewart (rock/pop)
- Set Fire to the Rain by Adele (pop)
- Breath of Heaven by Amy Grant (Christian/Christmas)
- Another in the Fire by Hillsong United (Christian)
Thoughts on Pentecost & Holy Spirit
Chi and the Christian understanding of the Holy Spirit share many commonalities. The Old Testament ruach and the New Testament pneuma carry the same ambiguity of multiple meanings, as does Chi, such as “breath, air, wind, or soul.” — Kim
Here’s one thing
you must understand
about this blessing:
it is not for you alone.
It is stubborn about this.
Do not even try
to lay hold of it
if you are by yourself,
thinking you can carry it
on your own …
— Jan Richardson
Both the Jews and Christians celebrate Pentecost. During the Jewish Pentecost, every male Jew living within twenty miles of Jerusalem was legally bound to go up to Jerusalem to participate in the feast. Jewish Pentecost is also known by the name Shebuot or Shavuot (The Feast of Weeks). … For Christians … It is the day when the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles in the form of different tongues. It took place fifty days after the Resurrection of Jesus. The feasts also commemorate the inauguration of the Christian Church by apostles. — latestly.com
… Fire fell, I say, in angel-swarm, and men were changed for good,
To feast with God, to feast on God, to savor holy food.
Bread and wine, body and blood, were shed and tucked in a tomb.
But, out He strolled, and breathed His breath, and the world became a womb …
— Ross Guthrie
You burn with irrepressible, ferocious passion … we can barely stand upright in the face of your love … you would subsume us in the unrelenting hold of your peace … thank god our inadequacy defining you has never stopped you yet. — Cheryl Lawrie… look for – and expect! – the Holy Spirit to come along side us and shake things up, preparing and equipping each and all of us to share the disruptive, surprising, and life-giving word of grace of the God who will not rest until all people enjoy abundant life … — David Lose
English translations also underplay the fear-inducing, adrenalin-pumping, wind-tossed, fire-singed, smoke-filled turmoil of that experience. Those who observed this Pentecost visitation from outside the room are described in the NRSV as “bewildered” (v. 6), “amazed and astonished” (v. 7), and “amazed and perplexed” (v. 12). The Greek terms describing their reactions could be appropriately rendered (following the lead of various lexicons) as confused, in an uproar, beside themselves, undone, blown away, thoroughly disoriented, completely uncomprehending. — Frank Couch
This is not a soft, cuddly Holy Spirit; this is an uncontrollable and unpredictable Spirit … the Spirit is not our private possession — it’s not “mine.” The Spirit is given to the whole community. — Patrick Johnson
The Spirit is like breath, as close as the lungs, the chest, the lips, the fogged canvas where little fingers draw hearts, the tide that rises and falls twenty-three thousand times a day in a rhythm so intimate we forget to notice until it enervates or until a supine yogi says pay attention and its fragile power awes again. … The Spirit is like fire, deceptively polite in its dance atop the wax and wick of our church candles, but wild and mercurial as a storm when unleashed. … The Spirit is like a seal, an emblem bearing the family crest, a promise of belonging, protection, favor. …The Spirit is like wind, earth’s oldest sojourner, which in one place readies a sail, in another whittles a rock, in another commands the trees to bow, in another gently lifts a bridal veil. … The Spirit is like a bird, fragile alloy of heaven and earth, where wind and feather and flight meets breath and blood and bones. … The Spirit is like a womb, from which the living are born again. — Rachel Held Evans
Excerpt from Mindfulness Exercise by Thich Nhat Hanh (full article)
Just recognize: this is an in-breath, this is an out-breath. Very simple, very easy. In order to recognize your in-breath as in-breath, you have to bring your mind home to yourself. What is recognizing your in-breath is your mind, and the object of your mind—the object of your mindfulness—is the in-breath. Mindfulness is always mindful of something. When you drink your tea mindfully, it’s called mindfulness of drinking. When you walk mindfully, it’s called mindfulness of walking. And when you breathe mindfully, that is mindfulness of breathing.
So the object of your mindfulness is your breath, and you just focus your attention on it. Breathing in, this is my in-breath. Breathing out, this is my out-breath. When you do that, the mental discourse will stop. You don’t think anymore. You don’t have to make an effort to stop your thinking; you bring your attention to your in-breath and the mental discourse just stops. That is the miracle of the practice. You don’t think of the past anymore. You don’t think of the future. You don’t think of your projects, because you are focusing your attention, your mindfulness, on your breath.
Spirit as Flame and Fire
Do not feel lonely, the entire universe is inside you.
Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion.
Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames.
— attributed to Rumi
Love in its essence is spiritual fire. — Seneca
The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire. — Ferdinand Foch
Heat cannot be separated from fire, nor beauty from the eternal. — Dante Alighieri
We cannot tear out a single page of our life, but we can throw the whole book in the fire. — George Sand
You kindled me, heap of ashes that I am, into fire. — Cassandra Clare
… I am … setting fire to the forests
at night when no one else is alive or awake
however you choose to see it and I live in my own flames
sometimes burning too bright and too wild
to make things last or handle myself or anyone else
and so I run. run run run
far and wide until my bones ache and lungs split
and it feels good. Hear that people? It feels good …
― Charlotte Eriksson
Keep a little fire burning; however small, however hidden. ― Cormac McCarthy, The Road
If you’re going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire. You will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It’s the only good fight there is. ― Charles Bukowski
There may be a great fire in our soul, yet no one ever comes to warm himself at it, and the passers-by see only a wisp of smoke. ― attributed to Vincent van Gogh
The Moth don’t care
when he sees The Flame.
He might get burned,
but he’s in the game.
And once he’s in,
he can’t go back,
he’ll Beat his wings
’til he burns them black…
No, The Moth don’t care
when he sees The Flame …
The Moth don’t care if
The Flame is real,
‘Cause Flame and Moth
got a sweetheart deal.
And nothing fuels
a good flirtation,
Like Need and Anger
and Desperation…
No, The Moth don’t care
if The Flame is real …
― Aimee Mann
Spirit as Wind and Breath
The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also received his last sigh. The wind also gives our children the spirit of life. — Chief Seattle
The breath of life is in the sunlight and the hand of life is in the wind. ― Kahlil Gibran
Close your eyes and turn your face into the wind. Feel it sweep along your skin in an invisible ocean of exultation. Suddenly, you know you are alive. ― Vera Nazarian
The wind shows us how close to the edge we are. — Joan Didion
To most human beings, wind is an irritation. To most trees, wind is a song. ― Mokokoma Mokhonoana
When men sow the wind it is rational to expect that they will reap the whirlwind. — Frederick Douglass
The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails. — William Arthur Ward
What is the good of your stars and trees, your sunrise and the wind, if they do not enter into our daily lives?— E. M. Forster
You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of. — Jim Rohn
I hear the wind among the trees Playing the celestial symphonies; I see the branches downward bent, Like keys of some great instrument. — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Reflections on trying things a new & different way plus thoughts on fishing: themes from John 21.
Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced. – Soren Kierkegaard
Ironically … it is by the means of seemingly perfunctory daily rituals and routines that we enhance the personal relationships that nourish and sustain us. ― Kathleen Norris
Solving problems means listening. – Richard Branson
One thing becomes clearer as one gets older and one’s fishing experience increases, and that is the paramount importance of one’s fishing companions. — John Ashley Cooper
We don’t know who we are until we see what can we do. – Martha Grimes
Whatever you can do,
or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius,
power and magic in it.
— W. H. Murray
A Thirsty Fish (excerpt) — Rumi
I don’t get tired of you. Don’t grow weary
of being compassionate toward me!
All this thirst equipment
must surely be tired of me, the water jar, the water carrier.
I have a thirsty fish in me
that can never find enough of what it’s thirsty for!
Show me the way to the ocean!
Break these half-measures, these small containers …
Songsabout difference:
- What a Difference You’ve Made in My Life by Ronnie Milsap (soft rock)
- It Makes No Difference Now by Ray Charles (soul / country western cover)
- The Difference Between Us by Tina Turner (rock)
- What Difference Does It Make by the Smiths (rock)
- Different by Michael Tyler (Christian)
- Different by Hayden Summerall (pop)
Some songs for challenging times:
- The Greatest by James Blunt (inspirational pop)
- Joy by For King & Country
- In Dangerous Times performed by local singer & minister Mary Edes
- I Feel Like Going On performed by local singer & minister Mary Edes:
Fish & Fishing Songs:
- Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) by Hillsong United (Christian)
- Big Fish by FFE (Gospel)
- I’ll Probably Be Out Fishing by Toby Keith (country):
- Fisherman’s Friend by Port Isaac Fisherman’s Friend (sea chanty / acapella)
- Big-Eyed Fish by Dave Mathews Band (ballad):
- Gone Fishin’ by Bing Crosby & Louie Armstrong (big band)
Questions to consider from John 21 (link: John 21:1-14)
- What is one thing that this pandemic has caused you to see or experience differently? What do you appreciate?
- What do you want to keep from this experience? What do you want to let go or be done with?
- What in your life do you now consider to be abundant, that might once have felt scarce or limited?
- And what do you now wish you had in greater quantity or quality, that you didn’t appreciate before this time?
- What would you wish to give or offer, without limit, if you could?
- What simple rituals or habits create a pattern in your daily life?
- What gives you a sense of purpose?
- What are some comforting practices or routines that you have developed during the pandemic, or in the bigger picture, across the course of your life?
Trying a Different Approach; Attempting Something New
One country … one ideology, one system is not sufficient. It is helpful to have a variety of different approaches … We can then make a joint effort to solve the problems of the whole of humankind. — Dalai Lama
You will enrich your life immeasurably if you approach it with a sense of wonder and discovery, and always challenge yourself to try new things. – Nate Berkus
Do one thing every day that scares you. — Eleanor Roosevelt
Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. – T.S. Eliot
I hope that … you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing something. — Neil Gaiman
Creativity is thinking up new things. Innovation is doing new things. – Theodore Levitt
Try new things everyday. Don’t be afraid of failures. You will not lose anything. But your brain will be packed with experiences. — Akash Ryan Agarwal
Life begins at the end of your comfort zone. — Neale Donald Walsch
I’m an entrepreneur at heart. I’m not afraid of starting up, starting over, or even failing for that matter, because the fact that I try new things in itself is a victory. — Lynn Collins
Without experimentation, a willingness to as and try new things, we shall surely become static, repetitive, and moribund. – Anthony Bourdain
To live an art-filled life, one must be willing to try new things & accept that things change. – Lee Hammond
We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths. – Walt Disney
Life is worthwhile if you try. It doesn’t mean you can do everything, but there are a lot of things you can do, if you just try. – Jim Rohn
What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything? – Vincent van Gogh
I won’t know if I like it until I try it, will I? ― Cassandra Clare
How do you know, unless you open the door? ― Casey Rislov
Change How You Think About Problems
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. – Albert Einstein
Problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines. – Robert H. Shuller
Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced. – James Baldwin
Every problem is a gift. Without them we wouldn’t grow. – Tony Robbins
It isn’t that they cannot find the solution. It is that they cannot see the problem. – G.K Chesterton
Problems are nothing but wake-up calls for creativity. – Gerhard Gschwandtner
Inside of every problem lies an opportunity. – Robert Kiposaki
There is no problem outside of you that is superior to the power within you. – Bob Proctor
You can increase your problem-solving skills by honing your question-asking ability. – Michael J. Gelb
On Fishing: Light-hearted and Deep-minded Observations
Fishing is a discipline in the equality of men – for all men are equal before fish. — Herbert Hoover.
Yes, Jesus poured himself out for others. But he also went to parties, had breakfasts on the beach, went into the desert by himself, and took time off from the crowds. — Joan Chittister
Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. — Henry David Thoreau.
The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore. — Vincent Van Gogh
… fishermen are the people with the most immediate vested interest in having a healthy sea. — Mark Kurlansky
The fish and I were both stunned and disbelieving to find ourselves connected by a line. — William Humphrey
In every species of fish … it is the ones that have got away that thrill me the most, the ones that keep fresh in my memory. — Ray Bergman
… drought affects everyone in the state, from farmers to fishermen, business owners to suburban residents, and everyone has a role to play in using precious water resources as wisely and efficiently as possible. — Frances Beinecke
What did Christ really do? He hung out with hard-drinking fishermen. — Iggy Pop
Fishermen own the fish they catch, but they do not own the ocean.— Etienne Schneider
There will be days when the fishing is better than one’s most optimistic forecast, others when it is far worse. Either is a gain over just staying home. — Roderick Haig Brown
Fishing is not an escape from life, but often a deeper immersion into it. — Harry Middleton.
I go fishing not to find myself but to lose myself. — Joseph Monniger
Christianity began as a religion of the poor and dispossessed – farmers, fishermen, Bedouin shepherds. There’s a great lure to that kind of simplicity and rigor – the discipline, the call to action. — Camille Paglia
I only hope the fish will take half as much trouble for me as I’ve taken for them. — Rudyard Kipling.
Everyone should believe in something. I believe I’ll go fishing. — Henry David Thoreau.
If all politicians fished, instead of spoke publicly, we would be at peace with the world. — Will Rogers
The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of something that is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope. — attributed to John Bucha
I don’t want to sit at the head table anymore. I want to go fishing. — George Bush.
The best fisherman I know try not to make the same mistakes over and over again; instead they strive to make new and interesting mistakes and to remember what they learned from them. — John Gierach
I have fished through fishless days that I remember happily without regret. — Roderick Haig Brown
The fishing was good; it was the catching that was bad. — attributed to A.K. Best
Having a Sense of Purpose: Ordinary Tasks, Small Habits & Rituals as Sacred Moments
I am not sure exactly what heaven will be like, but I know that when we die and it comes time for God to judge us, he will not ask, ‘How many good things have you done in your life?’ rather he will ask, ‘How much love did you put into what you did? ― St Mother Teresa of Calcutta
It’s not what you do, but how much love you put into it that matters. ― Rick Warren
… God’s attention is indeed fixed on the little things. But this is not because God is a great cosmic cop, eager to catch us in minor transgressions, but simply because God loves us–loves us so much that the divine presence is revealed even in the meaningless workings of daily life. It is in the ordinary, the here-and-now, that God asks us to recognize that the creation is indeed refreshed like dew-laden grass that is “renewed in the morning” or to put it in more personal and also theological terms, “our inner nature is being renewed everyday”. Seen in this light, what strikes many modern readers as the ludicrous details in Leviticus involving God in the minuitae of daily life might be revisioned as the very love of God. ― Kathleen Norris
Excerpt from an essay by Rumi —There is one thing in this world which you must never forget to do. If you forget everything else and not this, there is nothing to worry about, but if you remember everything else and forget this, then you will have done nothing in your life.
It is as if a king has sent you to some country to do a task, and you perform a hundred other services, but not the one he sent you to do. So human beings come to this world to do particular work. That work is the purpose, and each is specific to the person. If you don’t do it, it’s as though a knife of the finest tempering were nailed into a wall to hang things on. For a penny an iron nail could be bought to serve for that.
Remember the deep root of your being, the presence of your lord. Give your life to the one who already owns your breath and your moments. If you don’t, you will be like the one who takes a precious dagger and hammers it into his kitchen wall for a peg to hold his dipper gourd. You will be wasting valuable keenness and foolishly ignoring your dignity and your purpose.
If you want to know if you are, in fact, loving yourself at all, ask yourself if you have ever cultivated something you like to do—like crocheting or gardening or painting or golfing or music. Ever. And if you haven’t, why haven’t you? Listen carefully to the answer. It is the key to being a whole person; it is the key to a whole other life. — Sr Joan Chittister