05/23/2026
Happy Pentecost Eve! I'm lobbying Congress to make this a thing - a recognized holiday where the government shuts down until Advent.
The stories of our faith remind us that, on the day of Pentecost the city was all-atwitter. There was a great commotion, the sound of a rushing wind, the visual of flames and doves. These all seem awesome, and yet terrifying at the same time.
As those who survived the storms of 2025 can attest, eternity can pass by before they ever want to hear the sound of rushing wind again. And yet, as the story of our faith continues, out of disturbance came new life-new birth-new energy. Our story also tells us something else.
The Disciples were hold up in the upper room (or 'an' upper room. The same room as the last supper? Who knows??), fearful of being spotted, fearful of risking life and limb. Hold-up until they heard the commotion, felt a "disturbance in the force."
The message I take from this is that Pentecost didn't happen until the Disciples left the building.
Let that sink in.
We become so bogged down, pent up, locked in, to our own ideological entrenchments and theological positions; we become siloed in our own minutiae, that we forget that we are the "called out ones" (ekklesia) of God. New life happens when we step outside and into our communities. In fact, our communities are waiting for us to step outside and come alive!
So my prayer for us, on the Day of Pentecost, is that we come alive to the Spirit of God. That we step outside of our own comfort and allow the fresh winds of the Spirit to guide us on our new journey.
Pentecost won't happen until Disciples leave the building.
