Good morning…
Last Sunday our churches celebrated Pentecost Sunday, honoring the moment when the Spirit of God swept through the first followers of Jesus Christ. Our Bible tells God’s story. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability (Acts 2.3-4, NIV).
Because of the Holy Spirit appearing among us, resting on each of us, and filling all of us like fire, we are empowered to speak in a variety of languages. This sacred week, Henri Nouwen’s unique voice helped to fan into flame God’s Spirit in me. Might this wisdom also set you ablaze?
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DAILY MEDITATION | May 27, 2021 by Henri Nouwen
We Can Live Free, Joyful, Courageous Lives
The Holy Spirit, whom Jesus promised to his followers, is the great gift of God. Without the Spirit of Jesus we can do nothing, but in and through his Spirit we can live free, joyful, and courageous lives. We cannot pray, but the Spirit of Christ can pray in us. We cannot create peace and joy, but the Spirit of Christ can fill us with a peace and joy that is not of this world. We cannot break through the many barriers that divide races, sexes, and nations, but the Spirit of Christ unites all people in the all-embracing love of God. The Spirit of Christ burns away our many fears and anxieties and sets us free to move wherever we are sent. That is the great liberation of Pentecost.
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“See then whether this blessing turns to flame on your tongue,” echos the words of Jan Richardson from this week’s post, Our Answer Is Amplified.
See then whether this blessing
turns to flame on your tongue,
sets you to speaking
what you cannot fathom
or opens your ear
to a language
beyond your imagining
that comes as a knowing
in your bones,
a clarity
in your heart
that tells you
this is the reason
we were made:
for this ache
that finally opens us,
for this struggle,
this grace
that scorches us
toward one another
and into
the blazing day.
—Jan Richardson, from Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons
In our delightfully diverse languages, empowered by the Holy Spirit, we are scorched toward one another. Struggling to embody all-embracing love, the ache of God’s flaming grace finally opens us up. With our self-protective barriers burned to soft ash at our feet, we live into this blazing day. Free. Joyful. Courageous.
This is the reason we were made.
For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God (2 Timothy 1:6a, NIV).
…Sue…
P.S. Thank you Gina Palermo for this powerful photo of God’s flaming grace.
