holy-spirit

Both Men and Women

/ Rev. Eric Anderson / 4 Comments


“In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.” – Acts 2:17, quoting Joel 2:28

Assembling for the feast of Shavuot, the Spirit roared.
No gentle breeze for us; a tempest howled there
among our trembling circle, through our trembling souls.
The flickering light upon our foreheads did
not shed illumination, no. I saw it as
a portent of our immolation.
Not since the angel told me not to fear
have I been so afraid.

My limbs have dragged my shivering frame
into the streets, which teem with goggling worshipers.
They fight their way upstream along the way
my son last trod beneath the burden of a cross.
How many know, how many care, that Jesus died
abandoned by his follower-friends, attended by
these women who, like me, recall dear Miriam,
who danced before the Law.

The raucous streets resound with Babel sound,
with accents I know well, and languages
I don’t. To my astonishment, one voice is mine,
another comes from Mary here, and Mary there,
and from a hundred other throats. We praise
our God, because when Jesus had been laid into
his tomb, the Holy One rejected our rejection, called
him back to life.

They scoff, of course, that we are drunk (how drunk,
they do not know, for I am filled with Spirit I have never known).
I draw my breath in deep. I plant my feet upon the unforgiving stones.
I start to lift my arm to summon all to hear my words,
and then I hear it: Simon’s voice, my son’s beloved Rock,
against all expectation quoting from the prophet Joel.
Who would have thought it? I rejoice, except: I wonder, when
will faithful people hear a woman’s voice again?

A poem/prayer based on Acts 2:1-21, the Revised Common Lectionary First Reading for Year C, Pentecost Sunday.

The image is The Virgin surrounded by twelve apostles or Pentecost, by Master of the Crucifix of Pesaro (ca. 1380). Photograph by Rama, Wikimedia Commons, Cc-by-sa-2.0-fr, CC BY-SA 2.0 fr, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11148957.

Many artists included Mary among the Twelve in their depictions of Pentecost.

Full inclusion of God’s people does not stop at men and women.

Prayer for Mother’s Day 2024

/ Rev. Eric Anderson / 2 Comments

O Holy God,

We pray for the mothers of the world: for the ones who have borne children, for the ones who have adopted children, for the ones who have, by the sharing of love and care, mothered someone or some ones around them. We thank you for the gift of love which mothers may share. We praise you for the care so many children receive from diligent and compassionate mothers. We ask your Holy Spirit to be present when motherhood stumbles and love fades, when children suffer neglect or abuse, or when a much-loved and much-loving mother is taken from them by the sad realities of the world.

We pray for the mothers who do not know where they will find the resources needed by their children. We pray for the mothers who do not know where they will find the resources needed for themselves. We pray for the mothers who, for whatever reasons, have yearned for and never had children. We pray for the mothers who struggle to live in war zones, or abusive homes, or with illness, or with children who do not return their love. We pray for mothers with gratitude and with urgency, when so many things can go wrong.

May we, as so many mother strive to do, live up to the high standards of your call. May we search diligently for truth and courageously bear witness to it. May we be held in your Holy Spirit when we need strength and renewal. May we be guided by your Holy Spirit when the time to work is at hand.

Jesus said he would gather the people as a mother hen gathers her chicks. Gather us, O God, and all those nations of the world, beneath the comfort of your wings.

Amen.

The image is a Pekin bantam hen with seven chicks. Photo by Calistemon – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=101140887.