by Corrie Cabes
My grandpa was a gifted welder. Not only did he hone his craft in the oil fields, but later with his students, teaching welding with an artist’s sensibility at a vocational school in Oklahoma.
He’s someone who would look at something needing mending and he’d cock his head to the side, squint a bit and say, “I can fix that” and then he would get to work and sparks would fly.
What is significant in welding is that fusion occurs. Two or more things are joined together to form one.
That seems to be the work of the Spirit on Pentecost.
The Holy Spirit doesn’t waste a moment, lighting upon the gathered disciples’ heads with a fiery flame, empowering them to speak with the expansive, limitless power of God, which will lead to the fusing of unlikely people, becoming one in Christ. This will happen again and again, with the forming of one faith community after another.
These clusters of people will not only seek to model Christ-like behavior, but Christ will dwell alongside and within these communities. No longer seen in the flesh, but spiritually present, it is Christ that unifies and the spirit that guides and refines. We experience the work of the Spirit even today, with Pentecost reminding us that we are one body of faithful people in Christ.
May we recommit our lives, joining ourselves to one another, remembering it all started with just a flicker of a flame.
Questions to ponder:
• What needs reflection or refining in our lives?
• What new ways might Christ dwell in your life?
• How can we reach out in love and connection to others?
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