hmmm…..
Pentecost Sunday happens to be today. It’s a day that is traditionally known as the time when the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles and the time when Christianity came together to be known as “church”. The word “Pentecost” means 50 days in the original Greek. Traditionally, the descent of the Holy Spirit happened 50 days after the Resurrection of our Lord. But it is also a response to the Jewish festival, Shavuot, which commemorates God giving the Ten Commandments to the Israelites 50 days after the Exodus.
All of this probably sounds a little silly to someone who is not Christian. Exactly 50 days after? The exact beginning of the church? Fire descending upon heads? And what exactly is the Holy Spirit anyway? Maybe it’s all just a bunch of hocus pocus …
Well, whether you believe the historicity of the event; whether you believe in the actuality of the coming of the Holy Spirit, you have to admit that there is something beautiful about commemorating a time when people gathered together and felt a spiritual presence they had not felt before. There is something wonderful about celebrating a time when people were so close and so connected that the usual common language barriers did not exist. And there is something down right holy about being so fired up by this feeling of unity in spirit that you might have had felt like you had actual fire burning on your head.
The spirit comes to us every day. It is powerful, warm and unifying in its energy. So what could be silly in celebrating a special day when spirit might have been born in the hearts of many? What could be wrong with that?
hmmm…..
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