Pentecost 2020
Pentecost is a very special holy day on the church calendar. It celebrates the day that the Holy Spirit came to everybody at once, a couple of weeks after Jesus had left them:
Suddenly there was a noise like the sound of a mighty wind! It filled the house where they were meeting. Then they saw what looked like fiery tongues of flame moving in all directions, and a tongue
came and settled on each person there. (Acts 2:2-3)
In the Pentecost moment each person’s head blazed with holy fire, and for that brief moment they could all understand each other, even though they all spoke different languages. They could see that they were stronger together than apart.
Do you know someone who inspires you? Somebody who has taught you wisdom, or self-discipline, or even self-defense. It’s a great feeling to be around somebody who is interested in you and helping you learn things. The time goes fast when you are together. It is said that mentors and teachers “pass the torch” to the next generation. They do so with God’s blessing and support. Here is a way to pray for and honor those who have set our hearts on fire to do good things in this world:
- First, think of a person who taught you something important or helped you do something for the first time.
- Get a plain votive candle and a scrap of paper.
- Write the person’s name on the paper and tape it around the side of the candle.
- As you begin, light the candle.
- Take a couple of minutes to remember this person, and the connection they made with you.
- Thank God for this person, as you look into the flame. Remember and thank them for teaching you a new way of thinking.
- Bring your focus slowly to the present time, and include other memories of how this wisdom has affected your life since then.
- Open your heart, and ask how God may want you to pass it on. One day you will get a chance to pass the flames of understanding to somebody else. And with God’s help, you will be ready and you will know exactly what to say!
- Take as much time as you want. When you are finished, blow the candle out.
