Happy Birthday OLMC! Well, it isn’t just our birthday; it is the entire Church’s birthday! Pentecost is considered the Church’s birthday because it was on that wonderful and strange day when, fifty days after Easter, the apostles and women of the earliest Church were so inspired by their conversion they began to preach the Gospel. The truth of God’s love for all of us was made public when the Holy Spirit gave all those gathered in the upper room the attitude of courage to proclaim God’s love! No longer were they afraid, it was time to tell people how loved they were just like Jesus modeled for us.
It would be remiss of me if I didn’t mention that my wife’s birthday is also on this Pentecost. I’m thinking of her as I read through our Church’s readings and am struck with how much of God’s word is focused on speech and language. The stories of the Tower of Babel, Moses’ call for people to authentically listen to each other, are all bright examples of this. Even Ezekiel’s inexplicable and surreal dream talks of the very breath of God: “Breathe into these slain that they may come to life,” he writes. I think this is fitting in both thinking of our Church proclaiming the Good News and my wife’s love of letters and the spoken word. She herself is a long-time dramatic speech competitor and speech coach. (I’ll embarrass her—she was nationally recognized and won top honors in college.) Certainly, like our Church, she “lives out loud” (we can be a bit much at dinner parties!).
I’m thinking of that dark haired woman from New Jersey who I gave my heart so entirely and am so grateful to a Church that teaches me how to love her. The truest romantic love leads to agape or spiritual love—the richest and deepest love we can feel. Our own human love stories should mirror that with the greatest love story ever told, that between God and the human soul. Thank God for birthdays.
I’ll be seeing you,
Elliot