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  • ABOUT
    • Who We Are and What We Believe
    • Open and Affirming
    • Meet Our Staff
    • Rent Our Space
  • WORSHIP
    • Special Services
  • WORSHIP AT HOME
  • MINISTRIES
    • Faith Formation
      • Bible Study
      • Crossroads: A Conversation About Where Faith and Life Meet
      • Sunday School
      • Food, Fun and Fellowship
    • Ministry Teams
    • Souper Thursday
  • BLOG
  • CONTACT
    • Send Us a Message
June 5, 2019  |  By Rev. Danielle Bartz

A Poem for Pentecost

I have always enjoyed Pentecost. I find myself reading the scriptures about the early Jesus Movement and wondering what it would have been like to be there. I find myself thinking about the Holy Spirit and if ancient times were set apart, or if people were better able to describe what they were experiencing using the language of God. I wonder…

As you do your own wondering, please enjoy reading this poem by Jan Richardson, one of my favorite modern day theologians.

When We Breathe Together
A Blessing for Pentecost Day

This is the blessing
we cannot speak
by ourselves.

This is the blessing
we cannot summon
by our own devices,
cannot shape
to our purpose,
cannot bend
to our will.

This is the blessing
that comes
when we leave behind
our aloneness
when we gather
together
when we turn
toward one another.

This is the blessing
that blazes among us
when we speak
the words
strange to our ears

when we finally listen
into the chaos

when we breathe together
at last.

(You can read more of Jan Richardson’s work at her website.

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161 W Broadway St. Winona, MN  55987