Over the past few weeks, I – like many others – have become increasingly aware of the significance of constraints or boundaries or limitations in our lives. In the movement from death to life to life in its fullness, I am deeply challenged (again) by the identity of the Church as the pilgrim people of God and inspired by the imagery of God’s Spirit as breath or wind – invisible but tangible, uncontainable.
The gathering for Pentecost Sunday defies some of those constraints as technology enables some to meet beyond traditional sacred space and geographical boundaries for a time of conversation and contemplation through poetry, prayer, music, silence, and nature.
This week, the service will not be recorded but I share some of the curated elements here for you to be drawn into this time in your own time and way through different voices, traditions, and experiences. If you would like to be part of the gathering, it takes place on Sunday from 9:30a.m. (with 30 minutes of opening music) to 11a.m. (G.M.T +10) and you are welcome to comment here so that I can send you an invitation to Zoom (requires computer with microphone and camera or smartphone).
May the Spirit of God with and within you, move you.
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Songs for worship
- Come like the wind (we want to know you God) – contemporary
- This is the air I breathe – contemporary
- Breathe on me breath of God – traditional
- O let the Son of God enfold you – modern
- Spirit Divine attend our prayers – traditional
Poem: Pentecost is Every Day
I share and share and share again
Stewart Henderson, The Lion Book of Christian Poetry
sometimes with a new language
which, if you are so open
will take you behind the sky
and award you cartwheels across the sun
I give and give and give again
not restricted by the church calendar nor concocted ritual
I have no need of anniversaries
for I have always been
I speak and speak and speak again
with the sting of purity
that can only be Me
causing joyous earthquakes in the mourning soul of [hu]man
I am and am and am again.
Visual Prayer
Featuring names for the Holy Spirit from Richard Rohr’s book The Divine Dance. During this time, it is recommended that you move your body in some way in response to what you feel happening within you e.g. stretch, hold out your hands, follow the moving images on the screen with your finger, sway etc. Pay attention to which words or images really move you.
Prayer of presence (progressive)
We gather today
mindful of a creative,
energising magnificence
at work in all places:
– in the vastness of the universe,
– in the evolutionary development of life on earth,
– and in every breath we take.In this Great Mystery
we are one with everything and everyone.We open our hearts and minds
to this creative Presence,
this energising Power
in the depths of our own being,
knowing that
we need not ask it to “Come,”
but rather
knowing it has always
been here with us in life,
in being,
in spirit,
in love.We gather in memory of Jesus
who knew this Presence in his own life,
who recognised its presence in the lives of others
and who urged his listeners
to call upon this Presence within them
to transform a world of sorrow,
a world of pain,
into a world of joy,
a world of promise and hope.Today we give thanks for
Michael Morwood, Prayers for Progressive Christians
the Jewish men and women
who took up the challenge
of transforming their world,
who kept the dream of Jesus alive.
Sacred Story
Adapted from http://www.barnabasinchurches.org.uk/pentecost-seven-signs-of-the-spirit-a-reflective-story/
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
John 20:19-23, New International Version
Questions to reflect on:
- I wonder which of these signs of the Spirit you like best.
- I wonder which of these signs you think is the most important sign.
- I wonder if there are any other signs we could have to have all the signs of the Spirit that we need.
- I wonder where we see these signs in the world around us.
- I wonder how we can be a sign of the Spirit in the world.
Signs of the Spirit
As we pray for others, I invite you to pick up your pen/pencil and paper if you have one close at hand. As the words of the prayer are offered, without lifting your pen from the paper scribble an unfurling, unfolding, moving line in whatever way you are moved to. Alternatively, after the time of worship, tie pieces of string or ribbon outside in a spot where the wind will move them this week and you will be reminded of what you have prayed for.
Praise to you Gentle breeze of the Spirit
For you blow where you will.
I hear the sound of you but
know not where you come from
or where you go.
Let me be aware of your presence
as your breathe across my life this day,
though I can never grasp you.Be still in the silence and aware of the Love with and within ……
By your breath of life which infuses all living things,
as I inhale the spirit of the people I meet,
may I exhale your love.
As I inhale the news of today,
may I exhale prayer like incense rising.
As I inhale rumours of war,
may I exhale supplications for peace.
As I inhale the air which the leaves of the trees give to me,
may I exhale care for all that bears leaves.
As I inhale the same air of the creatures around me
may I exhale freedom from all that causes suffering.Inspirer of the Universe,
Tess Ward, The Celtic Wheel of the Year.
by your grace, may we breathe your loving purpose this day.
Blessing
May the God of creation warm your heart like the campfires of old
Uncle Vince Ross, commongrace.org.au
Bring wisdom and peace as shown to the first peoples of this land
Shake off the dust from the desert plains by the refreshing rains
Followed by the glow and warmth of the sun
Let the light of God show us the right path and stand tall like the big
River gums drawing life from the ever flowing waters.