24/05/2026
As we approach the Day of Pentecost, I have been thinking back to the beginning of Lent. I am struck again by how this arc of time that began with ashes will end with fire, that vivid image and symbol of the Spirit that comes to Jesusโ gathered followers. Pentecost comes to remind us, in part, that ashes do not have the final word, and that fire does not come only to consume. It comes also to bless, to call, to inspire, to give to us what we could never begin to imagine on our own. Here at the threshold of this new season, this blessing is for you, with gratefulness.
WHAT THE FIRE GIVES
A Blessing for Pentecost
You had thought that fire
only consumed,
only devoured,
only took for itself,
leaving merely ash
and memory
of something
you had believed,
if not permanent,
would be long enough,
enduring enough,
to be nearly
eternal.
So when you felt
the scorch on your lips,
the searing in your heart,
you could not
at first believe
that flame could be
so generous,
that when it came to youโ
you, in your sackcloth
and sorrowโ
it did not come
to consume,
to take still more
than everything.
What surprised you most
were not the syllables
that spilled from
your scalded,
astonished mouthโ
though that was miracle
enough,
to have words
burn through
what had been numb,
to find your tongue
aflame with a language
you did not know
you knewโ
no, what came
as greatest gift
was to be so heard
in the place
of your deepest
silence,
to be so seen
within the blazing,
to be met
with such completeness
by what the fire gives.
โJan Richardson
from Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons
janrichardson.com/books
Image: "What the Fire Gives"
ยฉ Jan Richardson
janrichardsonimages.com
