Pentecost daybook, 2: let children sing, let old men dance
My Pentecost daybook for these 8 days of celebrating (today through Trinity Sunday next week).
Join me, won't you? (see all Pentecost Daybook 2016 posts here)
look
The Lantern Parade by Thomas Cooper Gotch - source
read
Joel 2:25-29 / 1 Corinthians 2:6-11
I will restore to you the years
that the swarming locust has eaten,
the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,
my great army, which I sent among you.
“You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
and praise the name of the Lord your God,
who has dealt wondrously with you.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.
You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,
and that I am the Lord your God and there is none else.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.
“And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
Even on the male and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit.
/ Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—
these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
all readings for the day: Psalm 48; Joel 2:18-29; 1 Corinthians 2:1-11
pray
Father in heaven, may we recognize and acknowledge that you are God. You have made us, and not we ourselves, to be your people and the sheep of your pasture. Baptize us with the truth we need throughout our lives. Give us the gift to discern who we are and what we should become. Free our eyes from all deception so that we can no longer delude ourselves with short-lived, earthly things. Clear our eyes to see what is eternal in and around us. Make us children, true children, who awake to exult and rejoice in what is childlike and who give thanks to you, O God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. (source)
listen
do
Nephews with sparklers, photo taken by my sister Kaley | Smith Mountain Lake, 2014
Cynicism is the enemy of the Spirit of Pentecost. I love the lyrics in Gungor's Church Bells. Read them as you listen to the song today, and ask the joyous Spirit of the Living God to restore to you the joy of your salvation. If He offers you the kindness of conviction of places in your heart that have grown crusty, jaded, bitter, skeptical, and unforgiving toward God, his Church, or the world, delight in the gift of repentance. Ask Him to forgive you, to cleanse and restore to you "the years the locusts have eaten" (in the Jeremiah passage from today). As you pray, friends, hope. Hope for the Spirit to heal all that has been wounded, lost, given away, neglected of your faith. This is a gift the Spirit longs to give you.
Church Bells
Let church bells ring
Let children sing
Even if they don’t know why let them sing
Why drown their joy
Stifle their voice
Just because you’ve lost yours
May our jaded hearts be healed
Amen
Let old men dance
Lift up their hands
Even if they are naïve, let them dance
You’ve seen it all
You watch them fall
Wash off your face and dance
May our weary hearts be filled with hope
Amen
I recommend you spend some time with children and/or the elderly to give you a perspective beyond your own experience. I find this to often be the perfect antidote for the sort of cynicism that comes with loss of perspective.
See Pentecost posts from the past few years here.