2 minute Pectecost

Great little summary of what today is all about from the gang at Busted Halo.

To make things new that never were

We name you wind, power, force, and then,
imaginatively, ‘Third Person.’
We name you and you blow…
blow hard,
blow cold,
blow hot,
blow strong,
blow gentle,
blow new…
Blowing the world out of nothing to abundance,
blowing the church out of despair to new life,
blowing little David from shepherd boy to messiah,
blowing to make all things new that never were.
So blow this day, wind,
blow here and there, power,
blow even us, force,
Rush us beyond ourselves,
Rush us beyond our hopes,
Rush us beyond our fears, until we enact your newness in the world.
Come, come spirit. Amen.

Walter Brueggemann, Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth.

Speaking in Tongues

As we celebrate Pentecost this weekend, a post of one of my favourite songs: Burning Down the House by Talking Heads from the brilliant Speaking in Tongues.

Chris Moyles blown away at Pentecost

H/T to Tim Goodbody for this great clip.

pentecost 09

Woke up this morning to the sound of a rushing mighty wind and tongues of flame outside the bedroom window; it’s Pentecost! Turns out the Holy Spirit hadn’t descended on the house but a Virgin hot air balloon had. These balloons are frequent visitors and occasionally one comes down very low over the fields, always a bit risky given the phone lines and power cables.

Anyway, it is Pentecost when we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit, so here’s another Brueggemann prayer:

To make things new that never were

We name you wind, power, force, and then,
imaginatively, ‘Third Person.’
We name you and you blow…
blow hard,
blow cold,
blow hot,
blow strong,
blow gentle,
blow new…
Blowing the world out of nothing to abundance,
blowing the church out of despair to new life,
blowing little David from shepherd boy to messiah,
blowing to make things new that never were.
So, blow this day, wind,
blow here and there, power,
blow even us, force,
Rush us beyond ourselves,
Rush us beyond our hopes,
Rush us beyond our fears, until we enact your newness in the world.
Come, come Spirit. Amen.

Walter Brueggemann: Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth.