May 27, 2023
Nikki Collins (provided)
Today is the day the liturgical calendar turns green.
Ordinary Time … the long expanse of days without festival or celebration.
It’s as if all that fire of Pentecost has burned out overnight and the Holy Winds have blown right out to sea. Yesterday was a great and mysterious day, but it’s time to get back to work and on with life as we’ve known it. Blow out the birthday candles. The Church is another year older, feeling her age in her joints and in her responsibilities.
So, let’s get on with it.
And, yet, in many places in the world, Monday is a public holiday — Whit Monday — the day after Whit Sunday or Pentecost. Whit is for white — the color of baptismal garments, as Pentecost was a time of baptism for new believers throughout the history of the Church.
Marking Whit Monday declares things don’t just go right back to normal.
It is a new day — a new season — a new era.
God has poured Holy Spirit on all people.
And it is hardly ordinary. The prophet says our sons and daughters will prophesy. Our old men will dream dreams, and our young men will see visions.
Do we dare?
Do we dare to dream with the Spirit of God for more than just one day?
Are we willing to scout for this Spirit’s movement in the midst of the regular and the routine?
What would happen if we let holy fire challenge our expectations of the ordinary exchanges and encounters of our daily lives?
What if we yielded to fresh winds and foreign tongues and gained a new perspective on God’s will for God’s world?
What if we got carried away — not just for a day — but for many days?
The story of Pentecost and the lectionary texts for today invite us to listen anew for the voice of the Spirit in and through the wisdom of the ages — and beyond it.
The fire did not go out on the day after the faithful gathered in Jerusalem years ago. Yes, we celebrate another birthday of the Church. We are older, hopefully wiser, and certainly still called to follow God wherever the Spirit leads.
Do we dare?
Nikki Collins, Coordinator, 1001 New Worshiping Communities
Let us join in prayer for:
PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Patricia Curtis, Production Clerk, Hubbard Press, Administrative Services Group (A Corp)
Dana Dages, Digital Project Manager, Communications Ministry, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Let us pray
Come, Holy Spirit, and fill us with love for neighbor and stranger. Show us your love for the people around us and send us to befriend them and serve them and welcome them in your grace and in your power.
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