the day of Pentecost
the PRAYER. . .
God our creator, the resurrection of your Son offers life to all the peoples of earth. By your Holy Spirit, kindle in us the fire of your love, empowering our lives for service and our tongues for praise, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
the READING. . .
Philip said to [Jesus,] “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”
the DEVOTION. . .
It is said that in the beginning the Creator formed people from the dust of the ground. Breathed into their nostrils and they became living ones. But that breath never remained inside, forever. It would come back out and they would die. And the Creator would breathe into them, once again, and they would live, once again. But each time, the same thing happened. The Creator breathed in and the breath came out. The Creator breathed in, the breath escaped. This happened again and again. It happened over and over. And that is why we breath to this day.
It’s also said that, one day, all the people were gathered together in one place. And the Creator came to them, one more time, and breathed into them. But this time, the breath came not as a breeze, but as a great wind and it filled the whole place where they gathered. And the Creator said, “There is, now, more breath than any one person needs. So, it is your responsibility to watch out for one another. When one of you gives up the breath that makes you live, another can give that breath back to you. And because of them, you will live. It is that breath that created our ancestors. And it is that same breath that blows, still … inside of us.”