Pause for Prayer: PENTECOST SUNDAY

 I look forward to posting these beautiful images every year on Pentecost (this is the 12th year!).  I hope they lead you to prayer, too...

 

The lilies in this post belong to the family Gloriosa - nature's nod to the tongues of fire that descended on the apostles' heads on the Pentecost Sunday! The photos are interspersed with the scriptural account of the first Pentecost, as recorded in Acts of the Apostles 2:1-11. Then you'll find today's Pause for Prayer and music  for praying on this feast...

"When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,
    they were all in one place together...

  "And suddenly there came from the sky
      a noise like a strong driving wind,
          and filled the entire house in which they were...

 

  "Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire,

       which parted and came to rest 

            on each one of them...

"And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit...    

 

 

And they began to speak in different tongues,
        as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim...

                    Acts of the Apostles 2:1-11

  

Lord,

the tongues of fire at Pentecost,
    didn't singe or scorch or burn
        those they touched
but rather anointed them
    to be faithful to you
        and the truth of your gospel...

In the same way, Lord,
send your Spirit upon me:
    anoint, bless, charge and send me
        to be faithful to you
            and your holy word...

And because I'm weak, Lord,
I pray your Spirit will
    strengthen and heal me,
    inspire and counsel me
    and give me the courage 

        and wisdom I need
    to be faithful to you

        and your rule of love...

Come, Holy Spirit!
    Anoint, heal and fill my heart
        with the fire, the flame 

            of your holy presence...

Send forth the gifts of your Holy Spirit
    and recreate me

        with your strength and grace;
make me faithful, Lord, 

    to your wisdom and will
        and the work you call me to do...

Send forth your Holy Spirit, O Lord, 
    and renew the face of the earth...

Amen.

 

Two musical offerings this morning: a joyous, uplifting choral rendition of a great American spiritual and a powerful, haunting organ improvisation on the chant piece: Veni Creator Spiritus.

 

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Every Time I Feel the Spirit

  sung by Seraphic Fire

    arr. by William Dawson

 

Every time I feel the Spirit
moving in my heart I will pray.
Yes, every time I feel the Spirit
moving in my heart I will pray.

1) Up on the mountain, my Lord spoke,
out of his mouth came fire and smoke.

Looked all around me, it looked so fine,
till I asked my Lord if all was mine.

2)  Jordan River, chilly and cold,
it chills the body but not the soul.
There is but one train upon this track;
it runs to heaven and then right back. 

 

Improvisation on Veni Creator Spiritus 

    by Alfred V. Fedak 

 

 

 

   

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NIGHT PRAYER: Saturday 5/23

Night prayer will be a little different this evening... Rather than supply you with a prayer text, I'm inviting you to first take some quiet time to discern: 

 

    • three places in your life where you need the gifts, the help and the power of the Holy Spirit...

 

    • and three places in the life of the world around us where we need the gifts, the help and the power of the Holy Spirit...

 

    • and then, with those needs in mind and heart, listen to this evening's song and make it your prayer... the song has a long intro and "takes its time...."  Take your time with the song...

 

Come, Holy Spirit, Come 

    by Josh Baldwin

 

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Come, Holy Spirit, come

    come and do what only you can do. 

Come, Holy Spirit, come

    come and do what only you can do.

 

Protect us, Lord, while we're awake

    and watch over us while we sleep

that awake, we might keep watch with you

    and asleep, rest in the peace...

 

Amen.  

 

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NIGHT PRAYER: Thursday 5/21

Tonight's prayer requires a little background which will prepare us not only for this Night Prayer but for the feast we'll be celebrating this weekend.  This coming Sunday (May 24)  we will celebrate Pentecost, the day on which the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples in the form of tongues of fire.

Consider these words from the first reading for Pentecost Sunday:

When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,
they were all in one place together.
And suddenly there came from the sky
a noise like a strong driving wind,
and it filled the entire house in which they were.
Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire,
which parted and came to rest on each one of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak in different tongues,
as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.

It's easy for Christians to misunderstand what's meant here by the fulfillment of "the time for Pentecost."  The disciples of Jesus were in Jerusalem (where they had gone at Jesus' instruction in (Acts 1:4-5) to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Jerusalem was mobbed at that time because faithful Jews had come there to celebrate their Feast of Weeks or Shavuot, which falls 50 days (pente) after Passover. 

What is Shavuot?  The helpful site tells us:

Shavout is a two-day holiday that commemorates the date when God gave the Torah (the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai over 3,000 years ago. Preceded by 49 days of counting in eager anticipation, Shavuot is celebrated through  abstaining from work, candle-lit dinners, staying up all night to study Torah,  a and listening to the reading of the Ten Commandments in synagogues.

The period from Passover to Shavuot is a time of great anticipation with the people ritually counting the days from the second day of Passover to the day before Shavuot, 49 days or 7 full weeks, hence the name Feast of Weeks.   Shavuot is also known as Pentecost, because it falls on the 50th day.

The date for the Christian feast of Pentecost is determined each year by the date of Easter, just as the date for Shavout is determined by the date of Passover. Perhaps you remember that this year Passover (April 1-9) and Easter (April 5) were very close on the calendar. Thus, the celebration of Shavuot begins at sundown today (May 21) with the Christian Pentecost falling on this Sunday, May 24.

Over at To Bend Light, my cyber-friend Alden Solovy suggests the following prayer for Shavout...

What if God arrived unannounced?
No smoke. No thunder.
A gentle appearance of radiance and love.

What if God snuck in on tiptoes?
No earthquake. No blast of the shofar.
A luminous presence of wonder and glory.

What if God’s voice whispered in your ear,

so quiet that you had to hold your breath to hear?
A silent surrender of hope and faith.

 

What if holiness packed the empty space with light 

as your lungs filled with the one divine breath

together with every other living being?

 

What if God’s voice is as near

as your willingness to listen quietly

to the soul of the universe
as a sense of calm and peace

pass through you?

 

What if that moment

is now?

© 2017 CCAR Press from This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day

 

The holiday of Shavuot commemorates the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai. This composition is an attempt to convey some of the mystery surrounding the theophany, the revelation of the Lord’s presence. The text begins and ends with a medieval Jewish hymn praising God and asking permission to chant the Decalogue. The middle section presents the first few words of each of the Ten Commandments. The composition is based on traditional Jewish chant, an English translation is provided in subtitles.

 

Shavuot by Joshua Jacobson  

 

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Pause for Prayer: THURSDAY 5/21

Thank you, Lord, 
   for getting me over bumps in the road
      that I once thought were mountains...

Thank you for leading me and guiding me 
   through days, nights and weeks
      I thought impossible, impassable...

Thank you for helping me 

    accomplish and endure 
what I thought I never would,
    what I thought I never could...
         
Help me hold these memories close, Lord:
   I need their strength today,  

        I need their promise for tomorrow...

I know I can't make it alone, Lord,
   but with you by my side,
      and your hand on my shoulder,
   my sorrow is halved 
      and my joy is doubled...

 

Don't ever let me forget this, Lord,

    just, please -  don't let me forget... 

Amen.

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NIGHT PRAYER: Wednesday 5/20

What a glorious day, Lord:

    bright sun in a clear sky,

        mild breezes, fresh spring air!

 

Just the way I'd love things to be

    all the whole year 'round 

- but I know that in other places, 

    the weather's not as kind

and in other hearts, even some close by, 

    right beneath my sunny skies

        clouds of grief cast shadows over joy,

        waves of anger crash on tender souls,

        driving winds batter worried minds,

        and frost chills what warmth is left

        in memory's fading embers...

 

And so, my evening prayer, Lord...

I'm grateful for this wondrous day

as I pray for my suffering brothers and sisters

    in Iran, Buffalo, Ukraine, Haiti, Gaza,

    Beverly, Yemen, Nigera, Lecanto, 

    and so many other places... 

I praise you for today's clear skies as I pray

    for the homeless living in shelters 

        or on the street,

    for the hungry starving for food 

        and thirsting for clean water,

    for the poor and unemployed 

        struggling to survive another day,

    for the chronically and terminally ill 

        whose pain never ends,

    and for those haunted by fear, 

        anxiety and depression,

    those for whom the weather never seems to clear...

I'm grateful for this day, Lord, 

    but keep me mindful, always,

        of those whose "weather" holds them captive...

 

Strengthen and encourage me,

    in the sunshine and the warmth,

to reach out and as I'm able

    to relieve those waiting, waiting, waiting 

for the skies to finally clear

    and a day of healing peace to dawn...

Protect us, Lord while we're awake

    and watch over us while we sleep

that awake, we might keep watch with you

    and asleep, rest in your peace...

Amen. 

 

I couldn't find a "weather hymn" to pair with tonight's prayer

but The Summons seems to serve well - rain or shine...

 

The Summons by John Bell

   

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Pause for Prayer: WEDNESDAY 5/20

 

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NIGHT PRAYER: Tuesday 5/19

The sun is setting on the 53rd anniversary of my ordination day and this photo joyfully and prayerfully reminds me of days not-so-long-ago...

 

 

 

It's my hope that some of my readers will relate to my prayer tonight - and that my younger readers might pause and consider what's ahead for them..  

 

I forget many things, Lord, 

but fresh in my memory still

are my younger, active, suppler days,

my tireless, spirited, peppy days,

my vigorous, stronger, sprightly days...

 

My steps have slowed and lost their spring,

I tire more quickly, my energy lags;

I'm much more content with taking it easy

and watching while others pick up the slack...   

 

But I hope, I trust and I certainly pray

that in my heart there still lives a youth

who's only grown wiser, 

more cautious and prudent,

slower to judge, quicker to pardon,

more understanding of all the burdens

each of us carries for years, for decades

- through a life's time -

'til it's time to lay down  

what we've carried so long

and surrender to you,

to your mercy and love...

 

But I'm not done yet, Lord,

    - no, not at all!

I've more to do, to give and to share,

to ponder and pray on,

to survey with awe,

to wonder at, sing for, delight in

and cherish

as gifts of your grace,

enlivening and healing

and filling my soul 

every day, every night

with your generous presence,

your calming Spirit

and the gift of your everlasting peace...

 

Protect me, Lord, while I'm awake

    and watch over me while I sleep

that awake, I might keep watch with you

    and asleep rest in your peace...

Amen. 

 

God of My Youth, I Remember

    by The Living Words

 

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God of my youth I remember

Your call on my life took me o'er

Your love has seen

me through all my days

I stand here by Your grace

on this altar I've written my life

tells of a story I have with You my Lord

I want the world to know

God of my forever

and forever I'm with You

my life is saved with a price

Your sacrifice redeemed my soul

God of my forever

and forever I will sing

my greatest honor will always be

to serve my Lord and King

God of my all I've surrendered

my heart finds rest in Your word

praises will not be enough to show

how my love for You has grown

nothing matters when You're here with me

in the end just to hear You say

"well done"

bowing before Your throne

God of my forever

and forever I'm with You

my life is save with a price

Your sacrifice

redeemed my soul

God of my forever

and forever I will sing

my greatest honor will always be

to serve my Lord and King

forever and ever

Jesus You alone in glory reign

forever and ever

with You I walk this narrow way

God of my forever

and forever I'm with You

my life is saved with a price

Your sacrifice redeemed my soul

God of my forever

and forever I will sing

my greatest honor will always be

to serve my Lord and King

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