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We are coming upon the Day of Pentecost. It’s called “Pentecost” because this festival is celebrated 50 days after Easter, initiating the longest season in the church’s liturgical year. On Pentecost Sunday, we hear the story of the disciples minding their own business, when tongues of fire rest on each of them. The Holy Spirit appears, and the surreal occurs. We are not accustomed to thinking about the Holy Spirit as a Holy Disrupter. But perhaps we should.
Change is coming in the church. Some of us perceive that change as disruptive: The present patterns and customary ways suit that church just fine, we think. Yet others of us welcome the wind, which blows out and blows in and blows down.
The Spirit is engaging in mischief not only within the church but even in our own lives: Just when we think we are settled, just when we believe we have it all together, just when everything seems situated, then…the Holy Trickster appears, upheaving our plans, shifting our perceptions and rearranging everything on our physical and mental shelves.
Pentecost is about surprises, plot twists, sacred upheavals, divine mischief, and yes, a Holy Trickster who makes this world anew.
This message is excerpted from “Holy Spirit trickster” by Anna Madsen in the May 2021 Gather magazine.