Pentecost A + 5.31.20

M. Campbell-Langdell

All Santos, Oxnard

(Psalm 104:25-35, 37; Acts 2:1-21;  John 7:37-39)

“Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.”

Days like Pentecost Sunday are really good for the heart during a pandemic.

Because they remind us that we are not alone doing this.

That we have the Holy Spirit with us, accompanying us and urging us toward success and thriving. Toward healing and wholeness.

On Thursday the clergy of the diocese of Los Angeles heard from a representative of Episcopal Relief and Development, Lura Steele. She told us of the life cycle of a disaster. A disaster begins with a dip and a scare, and then we see people respond (hopefully) heroically, and we feel community cohesion. And then we gradually sink lower as the reality sets in that there is a lot of work to do (and frankly staying at home is less of a novelty after a while) and eventually we balance and begin to rebuild, and it may never again be exactly what we had before, but we build a new “normal.” Forgive me, I understand that is a problematic term, but that is the way ERD termed it.
Steele reminded us that it is OK if we have “COVID-19 brain” from time to time and lose track of details or feel more emotionally unsettled. Just this week I found I could not watch my friends' grief over what happened to George Floyd and I literally had to go focus on something else for a moment before I could figure out how to responsibly respond to his death. I eventually realized that what I could do was reach out to our police chief and ask him to speak on behalf of what Oxnard PD is doing to prevent such tragedies. But for a moment, my brain just wouldn't work. I was on emotional overload. And I just needed to take a moment. And not feel bad about taking care of myself.

Today is the birthday of the church, and we remember that on this day, the Spirit touched down, not just on those precious disciples in the upper room, but also on all those gathered around. They understood each other! And we who have had so many “Babel” moments on Zoom may have also experienced this recently, the joy in simply being understood. Or in understanding beyond difference. This week we participated with the Latino Ministry group in a short Pentecost message you can see embedded in our Spanish service. And instead of having the Acts passage translated into different European and Asian languages as is oft our wont at All Santos, this group translated it into Spanish, Portuguese and Native Mexican languages. One of our congregants translated a short passage in Mixteco for me on audio. He apologized in Spanish at the end, but to me it was perfect! I know I wouldn't know the difference, but there was so much beauty in just hearing the scripture in another language.

On this day, we as Christians come together all over the world, and we are joined in the Spirit, and we rejoice in that Spirit not because of our actions but because it is the Spirit's will that we should be joined.

In the Spanish service this week, we sing “Envía tu Espiritu” or “send your Spirit.” And we sing that in the sending of the Spirit, the earth will be renewed. I hold that image close to my heart as I see our earth in the grip of this pandemic.
I truly believe that it is the Spirit's will that we be healed at this time. I imagine the Spirit hovering over the earth and gently, gently touching each head and each home with healing power today. This healing may take time to work on the virus. But I trust that God is more than capable of healing us. And in the meantime, I pray and trust that God is using this time to heal us in all the other ways that we need healing – racially, emotionally, spiritually and ecologically. May the miracle that birthed the church so many years ago remind us that sometimes we will understand each other across difference, and we will find that we are healed, and one family across all of our differences. Amen.