Category Archives: Pentecost

Pentecost

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Holy Spirit, Wild Wind,
on this day of Pentecost
we are gathered.

We are alternately
full of fire and fizzling,
courageous and tentative,
gifted by dreams and haunted by worries.

In other words,
this holy day finds us to be
still wholly human.

Will you fill us up?
Will you awe our hearts
so that we too might understand
your word & work of power in the world?

Will you declare the assurance
that our souls long to hear,
the peace that all your children need,
the renewal that is creation’s hope?

Let it be so,
and we who aspire to be fire
would settle for being your kindling
in this world that needs love.

Let it be so,
and we who dream of flying
would settle for bending in your breeze
like flowers dancing their praises
in a world that needs whimsy.

We ask in wonder.
We pray in astonishment.
We wait for heaven to come among us
like a rush of roaring wind, like a flame
that ignites without ceasing.

Amen.

cross-posted at RevGalBlogPals

Pentecost Praise

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How good and generous you are, O Holy Potter,
to create us and equip us with diversity!

How wise and provocative you are, O Blessed Other,
to call us out when we would withdraw into!

How lavish and surprising you are, O Divine Vessel,
to pour spirit over us and and gush love on us!

Most Holy Potter, our Creator;
dear Blessed Other, our Teacher;
abundant Divine Vessel, our Sustenance;
we praise You!

Pentecost Sunday

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Ah LORD God:
how is it that you give
all good gifts?
With an open hand and a spirit of grace
you give,
and in gratitude we receive you.

Dear Sweet Spirit:
how is it that we each hear you
whispering our names?
With an uninhibited holiness and a prophetic heart
you whisper,
and in gratitude we hear you & understand.

Ah Blessed Jesus:
how is it that you promise
peace beyond understanding?
With the power of God and the indwelling of the Spirit
you pour out,
and in humility we overflow with serenity & solidarity.

Most Holy God,
how is it that you gather us
from the east & the west, from the north & the south?
With love and a vision for the Kin-dom
you call us together,
and in joy we come.

Let it be so.

cross-posted at RevGalBlogPals

Ferocious: A Pentecost Prayer

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How great you are, O God our God,
and how foolish are we to call you ours!
Your power cannot be measured,
your holiness cannot be contained.
Without you, we are entirely hopeless …
with you, we are completely unsettled.

How to choose:
between your Consuming Fire
and the embers of complacency?
between your Dance of New Life
and the brittle familiarity of these bones?
between your Righteous Justification
and this world’s systems of injustice?

In the power of your glory,
save us and grant us courage
to draw near to your ferocious grace.
Give us strength to bear down
through the labor pains
of reparation & restoration.
Fill us with visions beyond our wildest dreams,

and as we dream,
we will sing your highest praises
if you will hold our deepest sorrows;
we will remember your promises of life
if you will hold our stories of death;
we will say your name often & loosely as though drunk
if you will hold our names intentionally in your hand.

Be fierce, O Holy God —
the world needs you to be fierce,
and the world needs us to be fiercely convicted
by your power and grace.
We dare to say
that we are ready to be
changed by your Spirit; we are ready.
Amen.

Cross-posted at RevGalBlogPals.

Awaiting the Return of Pentecost

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At long last,
O Mighty God,
will you mercifully set on fire
all that is yours,
reducing to ash & coals
the injustices, the impurities,
while emboldening to brilliance
truth-telling tongues & fiercely-loving lives?

At long last,
O Raging God,
will you set ablaze
complacent hearts & dry bones
until there is an wholly unprecedented
conversion of stubborn perspective,
a confession of false gods,
a radicalization of love?

At long last,
O Most Wild God,
will you break mountains and send whirlwinds,
will you send us into the streets with shouts;
will you toss & turn us with nightmares,
make us blush & burn with daydreams,
make us alive in defiance of death
even now while we groan in despair?