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destruction, fire, fire of love, Holy Spirit, Peace, Pentecost, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wind
There’s no doubt these days that we understand the power of the wind. Climate change has given us countless images of the destructive power of tornados, cyclones and even just a strong wind. On the other hand, the same power that decimates towns and villages, if harnessed, is able these days to provide electricity for entire towns and villages. In addition, there is a feeling like no other in being outside on a spring day listening to the wind blow through the trees, bringing a freshness that seems to blow away all sadness and distress, if only for a time…
As I think of it, fire is like that too. The power of fire for destruction has been shown to us in the United States over and over as we watch acres of forest land gain the upper hand from firefighters in dry seasons. At this moment, cities across our nation are falling victim to rage against injustice, and fire is the most visible sign of the destruction. Nonetheless, we can find such peace in a campfire, providing warmth on a chilly night, or the quiet of a candle flame as we settle on a meditation mat…
Today we celebrate the great feast of Pentecost and consider the images of wind and fire. The power of the rushing wind speaks of God’s Spirit being poured out “through all the earth” and the fire of love being ignited in the hearts of those who caught the message. It is a day, perhaps, to consider our participation in the spread of God’s presence in the world of today. Some of us will be the “mighty wind” but more likely we will be among those whose presence shines a tiny light, reflecting God to others.
It is true that we have the power to raise up or tear down with our every breath. May it be our prayer today to know our place in the long line of believers who have read the signs of God’s Spirit and nurtured the turning of the world for those of us whose time is now.
On this feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, the thought comes to me that God can work with anyone to grant a behavioral turnaround. Granted that more serious situations demand more cataclysmic, Cecil B. De Mille-like solutions (as in Paul’s case) but it seems that God is willing to go to any extreme to bring us back from the precipice of destruction. A comforting and hope-filled thought, I’d say, when I am feeling less than saintly.
There is so much that I could learn from a serious study of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. Perhaps in my retirement…if such a time should ever come! Today’s reflection is simple – yet complex – coming from chapter 40:1-11. Isaiah’s message begins with tenderness. Comfort, give comfort to my people says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem…So begins what then sounds like destruction of all we know as life on this planet (All flesh is grass…withering…) in a show of force by a God that claims to come with power and rule by his strong arm. Immediately following on all of that comes, as conclusion, the promise that our God is rather like a shepherd. He feeds his flock; in his arms he gathers the lambs, carrying them in his bosom and leading the ewes with care.
When I read the text of the first reading from the Book of Job this morning (JB 1:6-22) I thought – as usual – that it sounds like the synopsis of a bad movie. Satan, vying with God, bets that Job won’t be as faithful as he has been if bad things happen to disturb his idyllic life of favor as God’s friend. God disagrees. After he hears all the terrible destruction that his servants come one after another to tell him about, we hear the familiar line that “I came into the world naked and will leave it naked. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Of course Job doesn’t say these words as declarative, emotionless sentences. He does wail and rend his garments…and this is only the first chapter of his test.