“The true Gospel is always fresh air and spacious breathing room.” ~ Father Richard Rohr, Falling Upward
Friends, We enter the season of Pentecost when we celebrate fresh winds of the Spirit blowing through our lives and our ministry, offering us fresh air and spacious breathing room.
As Brian McLaren writes in his book We Make the Road by Walking, “At the core of Jesus’ life and message, then, was this good news: the Spirit of God, the Spirit of aliveness, the Windbreath-fire-cloud-water-wine-dove Spirit who filled Jesus is on the move in our world. And that gives us a choice: do we dig in our heels, clench our fists, and live for our own agenda, or do we let go, let be, and let come … and so be taken up into the Spirit’s movement?”
This choice is ours to make, both as individuals and as a church. Are we willing to open up our minds and hearts, unclench our fists and ideas, and let go of our agendas and expectations, so that the fresh winds of the Spirit have room to swirl and dream and offer new vision and new life? What if we opened up all the different parts of our lives and our ministry that are feeling stuck or stale to the re-invigorating power of God to make all things new?
In the coming months, especially as we move into the summer season, I invite you to create some time and space for the Spirit to blow around in your heart and mind, your schedule and your life. Take a deep breath of God’s cleansing, life-giving Spirit and listen for what dreams, deep yearnings and visions emerge. What do we need to let go of, let be or let come, so that we too can be taken up into the Spirit’s movement as follower of Jesus and a community of faith together?
This Pentecost season is also an opportunity to celebrate the many ways that the Spirit has already been moving in our midst through the ministries and people at FPCY – Mental Health, Legacy, Gifts of Women, Graduates, Faith Formation, Gifts of Men, and Pride Sunday, just to name a few. We hope you will join us as we celebrate and offer our thanks for the many people in our church community who share the Spirit with us so that we can continue to connect with God, one another and the world.
~Chip and Tami