Celebrate Pentecost this Sunday
Mark Woods at the Bible Society writes: "After the Ascension of Jesus, the disciples went into a strange time of waiting. All their old routines had broken down; they knew they had a message to share, but they weren’t sure what it was, and they didn’t know what was going to happen next.
"This Sunday the Church in the West celebrates Pentecost. In Acts 2 we read: ‘they were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force—no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them.' (The Message)
"And the rest is history."
Here are some resources for today ...
Normal People, Normal God?
‘It’s the most relatable thing I’ve ever seen.’
Such was my housemate’s review of Normal People, the BBC adaptation of Sally Rooney’s bestselling novel, and what finally convinced me to watch it. Twelve half-hour episodes later, I can confirm: she was right.
When I was growing up, I inexplicably longed for a film or a book or a TV series that contained no real drama. No deaths, no explosive break-ups, no extraordinary wealth or unbelievable meet-cutes… just something that showed life as it is.
This article is one in a series (Connecting with Culture) from the the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity.
Breaking Open
I was reminded, recently, of a Hasidic tale which evokes Deuteronomy 11:18, and seems especially apt for now: ‘The pupil comes to the rabbi and asks, “Why does Torah tell us to ‘place these words upon our hearts’? Why does it not tell us to place these holy words in our hearts?”
‘The rabbi answers, “It is because as we are, our hearts are closed, and we cannot place the holy words in our hearts. So we place them on top of our hearts. And there they stay, until, one day, the heart breaks, and the words fall in.”’
It’s often the case that our own break-throughs seem to happen when we, ourselves, break open, isn’t it?
This article is one in a series (Connecting with Culture) from the the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity