Almost exactly a year ago, I sat in a Pentecostal church in Jamaica. It happened to be on Fathers Day. I worshipped with strangers while looking out over the Atlantic Ocean, past rows of poverty stricken streets in Ocho Rios. This was the beginning of a journey for me, that today reached a point of understanding. This Sunday was the first time I have attended church since my baptism. I did not know that it was Pentecost until worship began, but as I listened to the connections of Pentecostalism and Baptism, I realized that my spiritual journey has been aligned most magnificently by God. These signs of this alignment carry me through times of doubt, which have numbered many in my life, but fewer these days... The color red that represents the Pentecostal celebration is a symbol of the Life that is coursing through us, allowing us to embrace the Holy Spirit and pursue a life of Peace. It is not a color of war, bloodshed, or of national aggression. It is a sign of Life, most Holy, and guided by the divine design of God/Cosmos. Just as the poverty I gazed upon in Ocho Rios was an example of perseverance that demanded my respect and not my pity, we must readjust our thinking to see the good (God) in each other and not fall victim to the anxiety and fear that cause us to pervert the divine instead of praise it.
Posted on: Sun, 08 Jun 2014 18:16:42 +0000
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