Signs of the Spirit

As we pray, O God,

for signs of your spirit

at work in our lives today,

Open our eyes

Stir up our hearts to recognise

the myriad ways you reveal your power

played out by ordinary people:

In the son who drops off his mother’s shopping

in her porch week by week

staying outside to ensure she stays healthy

Right there is your Spirit at work

In the bereaved siblings who, scattered throughout the country

allow strangers to lay their beloved parent to rest

to prevent the virus’s spread

Right there is your Spirit at work

In the new parents forced to choose

which of them remains in hospital with their young baby

while the other waits alone and anxious at home.

Right there is your Spirit at work

In the staff nurse who sleeps

in temporary accommodation

to prevent exposing his family to danger

Right there is your Spirit at work

In the teacher who reads stories online to her class

or who, from her kitchen, teaches them to prepare food

that the school gathers and shares with their vulnerable community

Right there is your Spirit at work

In the hospital staff who spend hours

cooped up in gloves and gowns and masks

finding ways to communicate care

Right there is your Spirit at work

In the teenagers who curb their restlessness 

to stay at home

Right there is your Spirit at work

In all of these

are the tongues of fire

speaking the language of love

Love that reaches beyond restriction

to unite humanity

in the common task of healing.

And as we recognise these signs of your Spirit at work today

keep us from judging others

May we who are blessed to be able

to make the right choices

show compassion to those

whose options are fewer.

And when we find our spirits flagging

pour out your Spirit on us

again and again

For you gave your Spirit

not in one time

and one place

But for all times

and all places.

Transform our lives

and our world

Today.

Pentecost 2020

Acts 2:1-4

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 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.

When the Spirit came on that first Pentecost, 

the disciples were all together 

waiting

On this Pentecost, scattered as we are,

waiting 

and hoping

for we know not what

still the Spirit comes

Merrily waltzing into our living rooms

Powerfully crashing into our chaotic spaces

Humbly sitting at our kitchen table 

Joyfully taking a seat beside us on the sofa

Quietly embracing us in our grief and confusion

in our yearning and loss.

The Spirit gets in among us anyway and every way

She sits until we are ready to pay attention

And then she takes us on a tour that reminds us

that in every place

and every time

God is present

And the Spirit of God 

announces that presence

In a song

In a whisper

In a cacophony of praise

In a cry for help

In a deep breath

The Spirit of God weaves together the fabric of life itself

Until we know that nothing can ever separate us from Gods love

And so as we pray for the healing of Creation

and for healing for our neighbour 

Our prayers are lifted

on the wings of the Spirit

and our sighs are caught up

and presented to God

And our faith

and hope

and love 

are reborn

in the life of the church

in the life of the world

The eternal gift of the Spirit at Pentecost.

Spirit of God, may it be so.

Not now

John 16:12-13
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

“You cannot bear them now...

When the Spirit comes...”

Lord you spoke these words

to your disciples

enfolded in their own grief

and puzzlement

In the midst of trauma

yours was the cautious voice

of waiting 

the consoling voice

of promise

In your infinite compassion

you made space

urging them to do the same

In these times,

we, like the disciples

are anxious to know

and understand

and impatient

to act.

Calm our jets, Lord

Show us how to wait

Still our racing reactivity

Encourage us to care for ourselves

before we barge on

with fixing the world

or even the church.

Reassure us 

that yours is a long term call

that warrants 

patience

kindness

gentleness

humility

compassion

and love

for ourselves

and others.

Enable us 

to sit contemplatively

with unanswered questions

to nurture

our grieving spirits

to make space for you

to pour in your healing

and your wisdom

in your time

when you consider

that we are able to bear it

And Lord

through the great cacophony

of voices

urging us this way and that

enable us to discern

your still, small voice

of clarity

and purpose.

So may it be.

Still waiting...

Acts 1:3-4
After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. 

We thought the waiting was over

We thought we’d learned all we needed to know

We thought we knew what “Follow me” entailed

After all, it’s nothing new

Sure, we needed to update

We needed to accommodate 

a new generation

a new culture

Change was coming

albeit at a snail’s pace

But now?

We’re back at square one

The factory reset button has been pressed 

And we’re all at sea again

The problem is

We’ve kind of disabled your spirit

She was so disruptive

we tethered her

somewhere she couldn’t do so much harm

We locked her up safe and sound

in our buildings

tied up by our traditions

and our constitutions

Weighed her down

with our liturgies

and our rules and regulations.

And there are so many prophets

coming out of the woodwork

All claiming to know 

how to move forward

All claiming to have the answer

All making so much noise

That it’s so damned hard

To hear your voice

Suddenly everyone is an expert

in what we should do first

On how we should emerge

And, sadly

It doesn’t look that much different

to what we had before.

Risen, Ascended Lord

Really?

Are we the best you can do?

Are you going to just stand there

while your church

all shook up, for sure

crawls back to where we were

with a few tweaks

and a few extra online offerings

but otherwise

sighs a big sigh

that we can make our buildings safe

and go and do our thing

for thus it was

and is

and shall be

Evermore

I think I’ll pass this time around

Thanks, but no thanks.

What is real?

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."...

And so time went on, and the little Rabbit was very happy–so happy that he never noticed how his beautiful velveteen fur was getting shabbier and shabbier, and his tail becoming unsewn, and all the pink rubbed off his nose where the Boy had kissed him...

Weeks passed, and the little Rabbit grew very old and shabby, but the Boy loved him just as much...

He didn't mind how he looked to other people, because the nursery magic had made him Real, and when you are Real shabbiness doesn't matter.

And then, one day, the Boy was ill...

through it all the little Velveteen Rabbit lay there, hidden from sight under the bedclothes, and he never stirred,2

"How about his old Bunny?" she asked. "That?" said the doctor. "Why, it's a mass of scarlet fever germs!–Burn it at once.

The Velveteen Rabbit  Margery Williams

What is real

in these days

when everything is disrupted?

When everything that once seemed so important 

can so easily be set aside

with little to take its place.

What is real

when we have to avoid

those not of our household?

When we’re constrained

to “pass by on the other side.”

What is real

when we are aware of all that we have

and yet yearn for the freedom that is lost

and mourn opportunities that will not come again?

What is real

when we know solidarity

but long for solitude?

What is real

when we are constantly second guessing ourselves

and others

and have no capacity for either?

What is real

when our sleep is disturbed

when our minds are befuddled and slow

and focus is short?

What is real

when we know folks are doing their best

but we simply cannot watch another priest

break bread that we will not taste?

What is real?

And how soon can we get on

and burn all that once brought comfort

and start afresh

in a world

that does not forget disruption

but bravely forges

a new way forward

on things that we’ve discovered

are real?

More

John 14:5-9

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

More...

We clamour for more

More information

More explanation

More direction

More reassurance

More...

Jesus response 

to the request for more...

is to offer relationship

Through me...

You know God

Through me...

You see God

Jesus offers

relationship

that shows us God.

And in these days

of fear

and uncertainty

Perhaps what we need

is not moveable plans

or strategy

and certainly not

conjecture

Rather, it is

relationship 

with one another

in which

we see God

relationship 

with one another

in which

we know God

present

in our world today.

And there...

is our more.

Stay with us

Luke 24:29
But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them.

As the sun sets

in fits and starts

Like pebbles

skipping over the water

Earth hunkers down

to await its return

and as we rest

we know

that surely the dawn will rise

As the Easter season

moves on

through Resurrection

to Ascension

I want to haul it back

and say:

Stay with us Lord

Stay with us

For the truth is

that I haven’t yet reached

the empty tomb 

I’m not ready to hear

the risen Christ’s words to Mary:

“Do not hold on...“

And, not having got that far,

I’m certainly not ready

for Ascension

Stay with us Lord

Stay with us.

Freed for life

1 Peter 2:4-5
Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

What does it mean

to be living stones

when all around 

is loss and death?

What does it mean

to be chosen 

and precious

when inequity 

renders some 

as seemingly dispensable?

What does it mean

to be built together

in the midst of a plague

when we must stay apart
when our buildings are closed
and our liturgies scattered?
Maybe, just maybe
the freedom brought
by being locked out
is the very thing
that enables
us to recognise
the Spirit at work
all around
Freed from our attempts
to fetter her
Freed from our narrow vision
of where she might be
Freed to catch the Spirit
in our peripheral vision
as she alights
where we are
in hospitals
and homes
in funeral parlours
and makeshift chapels 
In recording studios
and gardens
in front rooms
and kitchens
The Spirit shows up
without fanfare
without invocation
or epiclesis
She shows up
Bidden or unbidden
welcomed or not
She shows up
sometimes quietly
sometimes raging 
always reshaping
And all we can do
is try to keep up
or at least remain vigilant
to the opportunity
that she leaves
in her wake.