The month of May brings the end of Eastertide and the beginning of Ordinary Time. Nestled between these two seasons is Pentecost.
Pentecost is when we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit and the birthday of the church. It is the annual reminder to the church throughout the world that it is the Holy Spirit that breathes life into the church and animates our faith.
And just like on that first Pentecost Sunday, the Holy Spirit still has a reputation for being unpredictable. Church is that way, too. We never know who will step through the church doors or who we will encounter beyond the church property. We cannot always anticipate the opportunities we will have to be the Body of Christ, nor where we will have them. But we do know that the Holy Spirit accompanies us and empowers us. Beyond that, we are told, in Romans 8, that the Holy Spirit “helps us in our weakness,” interceding on our behalf “with sighs too deep for words.”
So as these East Tennessee Spring winds blow, be on the lookout. For it was with a sound like a loud rush of wind that Pentecost began in Acts 2. It just might be that the Holy Spirit is stirring. And you don’t want to miss out on whatever the Holy Spirit might be up to.