Sierra Pacific Synod Resource Center

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"Blown by the Spirit ..... We Know Not Where"

We hear the story of the wind at Pentecost,

   Holy wind that dismantles what was,

   Holy wind that evokes what is to be,

   Holy wind that overrides barriers and causes communication,

   Holy wind that signals your rule, even among us.

We are dazzled, but then - reverting to type -

   we wonder how to harness the wind,

      how to manage the wind by our technology,

      how to turn the wind to our usefulness,

      how to make ourselves managers of the wind.

Partly we do not believe such an odd tale

      because we are not religious freaks;

Partly we resist such a story,

      because it surges beyond our categories;

Partly we had imagined you to be more ordered

      and reliable than that.

So we listen, depart, and return to our ordered existence;

   we depart with only a little curiosity

            but not yielding;

   we return to how it was before,

      unconvinced but wistful, slightly praying for wind,

            craving for newness,

            wishing to have it all available to us.

We pray toward the wind and wait, unconvinced but wistful.

 

The news is that God's wind is blowing.

      It may be a breeze that cools and comforts.

      It may be a gust that summons you to notice.

      It may be a storm that blows you where you have never been before.

Whatever the wind is in your life,

      pay attention to it...

         and the blessing of God,

         Father, Son, and Spirit,

            will abide with you always.   Amen.

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We have a new and innovative book, Declaration of the Way: Church, Ministry and Eucharist. 

This resource celebrates fifty years of international and regional Lutheran-Catholic dialogues and harvests the results of those efforts into Statements of Agreement on the church, ministry and Eucharist. It invites both communions to affirm the unity achieved through these agreements and establish church practices that reflect this growth. Because this is a declaration "on the way" not all differences have been reconciled at this time, but it certainly is a starting point for future openness and change! This book makes a great adult study, affirming and celebrating these Lutheran - Catholic agreements is a step toward greater unity in our neighborhoods and communities.