The Birth of the Church

This Sunday is Pentecost Sunday. Pentecost is a great festival day in the Church calendar. Behind Easter and Christmas, there is Pentecost. 

Pentecost is the birthday of the Church. The story is recorded in the Book of Acts with the words: "When the day of Pentecost had come, they were gathered in one place." Following that was the sound of a rushing, violent wind that today we recognize as the entrance of the Holy Spirit into the life of the Church and the world. 

This event reminds me of the Bob Dylan protest song "Blowing in the Wind". The wind is often used as a metaphor for the Spirit that "blows where it will", but it rushes into the lives of people who are struggling for answers. In a certain sense all of us await this wind, this breath of life, this power that enlivens our lives and helps us look for the answers we need for our lives.

Our faith pushes us to search for answers as well. Answers don't come neatly packaged, but only as we search our hearts and our relationship to God's Spirit. May we be patient with the Spirit who comes to awaken us.

MEH