REFLECTION

There’s a holy reminder in the daily lectionary for today. The New Testament reading is from the second chapter of Acts, the story of Pentecost and the filling with the Holy Spirit of Jesus’ disciples. “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.” When they left the room where they hid, they went into the streets and began proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ. When bystanders accused them of being drunk, Peter reminded them of the prophecy of Joel, “In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,…”

And we are part of that “all flesh.” While we are confined, lonely, bored, tired of all this, it’s good to be reminded that we are, in fact, filled with the Holy Spirit. We can’t very well rush out into the street, but we most certainly can devote ourselves to caring for each other, and for family and friends. Phone calls in a time like this are always welcome. Who is it that you know that would be helped and happy to receive a phone call from you just to chat a bit. We have a prayer list and a directory. How about sending a note to someone who’s recuperating from sickness or surgery to cheer them up, or to someone celebrating an anniversary or birthday to say, “Congratulations.”

I remember Alice, a member of the first church I served. Alice lived in a nursing home and by her early nineties was blind, deaf and unable feed or care for herself. But Alice refused to quit, so she became a prayer warrior for that church. Every day she prayed for individuals, in a week she had covered everyone in her prayers. She prayed whenever there was a worship service in the church. And she took joy in being able to pray for everyone. Everyone knew Alice was praying and everyone was blessed, and over and over we saw God’s answers to Alice’s prayers. 

Sometimes we begin to think that prayer is all we can do when we can’t actually “do” something. The reverse, however, is the truth. Prayer is our primary work. Take heart! We now have time to pray, remembering that prayer is a conversation, talking and listening. Why not take the parish directory and pray through it again and again, praying for each person. Even if we don’t know their needs, God does. 

Blessings,
Alan+