Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks!

I think the last fourteen months has taught us that even old dogs can learn new tricks!  We have become adept at the technology that some of us thought was inevitably beyond us; and a certain flexibility, although grudging at first, has become a characteristic of all our lives.  Us ‘old dogs’ have, in short, discovered how to do things differently!

Pentecost was an ancient Jewish celebration for harvest and had, no doubt, a comfortable ring of familiarity about it; but not in the tumultuous year of the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus.  On a day steeped in tradition God the Spirit stirs up the hearts and minds of Jerusalem worshippers who now see a certain spirituality outside the box of orthodoxy.  At Pentecost, the young see visions and the old dream dreams.

This weekend we once again celebrate the wonderful inclusivity of God.  A God who breaks out of boundaries and whose language is speech, silence, revelation, and nature.  Whose context is both sacred and ‘secular’ because this is the God who will always be both inside and outside the boxes we so carefully, yet foolishly, create.

I was struck, whilst watching a Channel Four documentary on the development of the vaccine, to hear why the CEO of Astra Zeneca agreed, in the first instance at least, that their roll out would be on a not-for-profit basis.  Why had he agreed to such a wonderful humanitarian solution which, in business terms sounds crazy?  Well, he said, if I had done anything else, my kids would have killed me!

God’s Holy Spirit of Love whispers to us in all places and through all people.  We hear the voice of God speaking to us even in the words of those from a different generation, tradition or language, and we are thankful.

There is a certain spirituality that belongs to Church.  Other variations are found in the home, down the street, on the internet, at a Retreat House or as part of a job.  God can, and is, present in all.  His universalist nature is the message of Whit Sunday.  God, found outside the box.

Pandemic and Pentecost – both can teach old dogs new tricks.hel’s Family Visiting