Pentecost A + Together-dream! + 5.28.23
M. Campbell-Langdell+
All Santos, Oxnard
(Acts
2:1-21; Ps. 104:25-35, 37; Numbers 11:24-30; St John 20:19-23)
Next to my desk, I have a little piece of art and instruction
from the artist Sark. It says “How to be an Artist” and goes on to describe
many things: “Stay loose. Learn to watch snails. Plant impossible gardens.
Invite someone dangerous to tea. Make little signs that say yes! And post them
all over your house. Make friends with freedom and uncertainty. Look forward to
dreams.”
And it goes on.
I couldn’t help thinking of it when I saw David Lose’s reflection for these
Pentecost readings. He asks us, the working preachers of the world, why the
people are afraid to dream.
Is it because we have learned that dreaming is just for kids?
Lose cites Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner’s book Freakonomics, and
their point that “one of the keys to innovation is to be willing to think like
a child and relearn how to question assumptions.”[1] Are we afraid to dream because it is
out of our control? Is it because we might dream something that scares us?
Peter quotes Joel in describing what has happened with this Pentecost
occurrence, this amazing uncontrollable happening that has just occurred, the
Holy Spirit’s coming among the people. And somehow, he finds some words to
describe it. They are from Joel. “In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters
shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall
dream dreams… Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
This is what is happening, Peter says, at the birth-day of the church. We are
receiving the Spirit. We are dreaming dreams. Young and old, male and female
alike are open to the Spirit.
Today begins the first of three Sundays of baptisms at All
Santos, and I am excited! The Spirit is truly here and at work at All Santos.
And it is also our work to be open to that Spirit. To listen to the dreams of
children and to listen to the dreams of our adults.
So, what are the things that may hold us back? Each of us has
a gift to share. In Numbers, seventy elders prophesied, and modeled how God
needs all of our gifts for service in God’s kingdom. Every voice is needed.
Even if they might not have prophesied again in the same way, you can bet God
still used every one after that. The Spirit will guide us all, if we remain
open.
“Finally,” Lose says, “I wonder if we’re just worried that if
we dream we might be disappointed.”[2] It’s possible. But this is where we
have to remember as Christians that we are not called to perfection, we are
called to faithfulness. But we will never get further than we’ve been if we
don’t dare to dream. If we don’t dare to be a bit different or think of things
in a different and creative, even playful way.
Another truly Pentecost-type vision that comes to mind comes
from a movie Alene and I watched some years back. It is called “Like Stars on
Earth (Every Child is Special).” And it tells the beautiful story of a young
boy with a learning disability and an amazing gift for art. You see him
struggling in class with paying attention because he is more focused on the
world around him. And then you see him come to a school where there is an art
teacher who notices his talent. The art teacher allows the children to dream
and to be silly. And the little boy blooms! Towards the end, the school has a
school-wide art day and competition, and everyone sits in the big amphitheater
at the school painting and drawing and dreaming. It is a wonderful scene, as
the serious teachers learn how to make fun with the students and good humor
abounds. And the young boy is one of the winners, and you just see how much it
means to him to be truly seen for his gifts, what he gives to the world, and
not how the world judges him. He is not his supposed defects. God created him
to be so much more.[3]
So, you might wonder, “Who am I to dream?” But author
Marilynne Robinson would have an answer for you! She would say “who are you not
to dream?” As she more eloquently puts it, “Our deepest fear is not that we are
inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our
light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to
be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is
nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure
around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make
manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's
in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other
people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our
presence automatically liberates others.”[4]
All this talk of dreams seems very freeing, and it is!
But God wants us grounded, too. We can only really dream when we
experience the deep Shalom of God. We can’t dream when we are afraid. Notice
how afraid the disciples are in the passage from John. They don’t know what to
make of this story Mary Magdalene has brought back about seeing Jesus, and they
are in shock at losing Jesus, and they can’t stop being afraid. And Jesus comes
in, practically spooking them, and saying “peace be with you!”
Jesus knows they have to feel that groundedness, that peace, before they can
feel the playful, dynamic flickering tongues of flame of the Holy Spirit dance
in their hearts and minds on Pentecost Day.
Theologian Samuel Cruz describes this shalom as “everything
good that one can imagine: being without fear of the attack of an enemy, having
your piece of land and your little home, having healthy relationships,
experiencing prosperity in all areas of life, not just in your finances.”[5] I love this. This is what God wants
for us.
This is part of what we live into as a church together. We may not be there
yet. We may not have complete Shalom until the kingdom comes. But we are each
getting there in our own way, and helping each other to get there. To feel that
Shalom each day a little more. So that we can dream each day a little more into
what the Spirit would have us do.
How can we dream together about a better world? A better All Santos? A better
Oxnard? Some of this resides in our being an intentionally bilingual and
intercultural community, and for this reason beginning next week we will have
monthly bilingual services to better involve our youth and young adults in the
liturgy.
Let’s dream together and share with me your visions and dreams about what could
be, and what the Spirit might be inviting us into together!
[1] David Lose, “Pentecost Dreams,”
Wednesday, June 4, 2014 (www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=3249).
[2] Lose.
[3] “Taare Zameen Par” / “Like
Stars on Earth”, 2007.
[4] Marilynne Robinson, “A Return
to Love: Reflections on the Principles of ‘A Course in Miracles” http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/928-our-deepest-fear-is-not-that-we-are-inadequate-our.
[5] Samuel Cruz, “Comentario del
San Juan 20:19-23,” de http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2128.
Comments
Post a Comment