We Episcopalians love to celebrate. It seems we celebrate most anything (and just what’s wrong with that anyway?). We recently celebrated Pentecost, which is a very interesting thing indeed. The story from the Book of Acts (2:1-21) is the basis for the Christian celebration of the more ancient Jewish keeping. It is the day many celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit to those who have chosen to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. One of the things that strikes me the most about that event is that people of faith are really people who receive. That stands in harsh contrast to what seems to me to be a developing culture of taking. Though those two concepts—receiving and taking—are similar in action, they are from different theological constellations. In the Christian teaching of Pentecost, the faithful receive the Holy Spirit of God as an eternal companion, comforter and colleague. The Holy Spirit is a free gift from the God who wants firstly to love, and then secondly for us to love. That’s not something you can take; it only works if you receive it.
Faithfully,
Tim+
