| “ When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. (John 16:13).” |
| Dear Friends, This past Sunday was Trinity Sunday. Did you know that Trinity Sunday is always the first Sunday after Pentecost? The two are always linked. And that link shows us that who and how we are with one another, relationship, is at the heart of what it is to be the image of God. It is the way. The gift of the Spirit as promised by Jesus is fulfilled on Pentecost. That day we are reminded that the Spirit binds us all in unity, not as one in a kind of melting pot by our uniformity, but rather in a kind of kaleidoscope by our distinctiveness. The reading from Acts on Pentecost says many languages were spoken at once by disciples not trained in those languages. One and distinct. On Trinity Sunday we heard about the unity of God in three “persons” – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. One and distinct. Ah, the image of God. The proximity of Pentecost and Trinity Sunday creates an opportunity to look into the future of Trinity Sunday from of our place at Pentecost as a kind of mirror and see God’s imprint reflecting onto us. “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth….” Did you know that the original Greek for the word translated in “guide” contains the word that we translate as “way?” This recalls earlier in John’s Gospel when Thomas asks Jesus how they (the disciples) will know the way; and Jesus replies, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” Who and how we are with one another, relationship, is at the heart of what it is to be the image of God. Jesus understood that. It is the way. It is a practice. It is the way and a practice designed for expression in community. Come. Be with us. Come be part of us: a unity practicing connection by the distinctiveness we each bring. Come hear what the Spirit of truth will declare to us over time. As we deepen in relationship with each other, I wonder what things are to come through us. In Peace, Rev. Dina |