Holy Spirit
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On observing a true Pentecost
For many, the story of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-42) has acquired a patina of mystery and magic that obscures what really happened that day. The story begins with strange auditory and visual phenomena – a sound like a violent wind and something like tongues of fire resting on each of the disciples. Now, most people stop Continue reading
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Raising Ebenezers
The question Nicodemus asked was only slightly different from the one you and I might have asked. “How can anyone be born after having grown old?” (John 3:4). Another version might be, “Once I’m settled in the familiar ways of the world, how can I give everything up and begin a whole new life?” Or Continue reading
a new life, abundant life, blessing of small things, blessings of the ordinary, born again, born from above, choice, choices, Duke Elllington, Ebenezer, experiences of grace, flow of life, goodness and mercy, great visions, Holy Spirit, Isaiah’s call, life as a river, life-changing experience, life-changing experiences, marker stones, Mary Oliver, meandering in life, Nicodemus, obstacles in life, Pentecost, starting over, The River, Thoreau -
The tipping point
Advent is an awkward, unsettled, ambiguous season. Retail Christmas decorations pop up as early as midsummer, and Christmas music starts filling the airwaves in November. The Hallmark Channel runs Christmas movies year-round. In churches, the urge to decorate for Christmas and sing Christmas music starts as soon as Advent begins. And in our homes, some Continue reading
Advent, Aldersgate experience, already and not yet, baptism, Damascus Road, enlightenment, Holy Spirit, John Wesley, Letters to a Young Poet, little Lent, living the questions, Magnum Mysterium, Messiah, Rex Tremendum, Rilke, spiritual baptism, spiritual growth, St. Paul, waiting for messiah, Wittgenstein
The Sauntering Pilgrim 