Living the Holy Spirit

Dear Friends,

This Sunday it isn’t just an opportunity to wear one’s most audacious dye, to weigh in on an ongoing debate about whether coral, garnet, vermilion, or another hue is the best expression of those lowest wavelengths on the visible electromagnetic spectrum—this Sunday is a birthday party for the church, one of the three principal feasts of the liturgical year—there was a long stretch of time in England, when Whitsunday was a bigger deal than Christmas(!). This is why I think it is so appropriate that our Joint Service with San Jose is the way that we have become accustomed to living into the fulfillment of those words promised in the book of Joel:

  “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.”

 The Holy Spirit is like tongues of fire—compassion that expresses itself in our particular cultures and languages, in surprising ways that are both reliable and also, ever new. At the start of our 10:30am special joint service in the Nave, everyone is invited to put their name on a nametag, so that we can better get to know our sisters and brothers within and across our congregations. Each nametag has one of the fruits of the Spirit from the fifth chapter of Galatians. And, in our festive reception with San Jose, everyone is invited to gather in small groups according to the various fruits of the Spirit found on those nametags.

 From helping out with our festive joint reception, to our ministry at the Pride Festival, to our afternoon action with Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement, there are many opportunities for following the surprising lead of the Holy Spirit in in our journey this weekend. I hope this can be a powerful Pentecost of new beginnings, for all of us.

Blessings,

John