Living Faith

Sometimes, a little turbulence is a good thing. We need to be unsettled, startled, shaken. The first Christians learned as much on Pentecost. This singular event in the life of the Church—the “birthday of the Church”—doesn’t arrive quietly. “Noise like a strong driving wind” announces that the Holy Spirit has arrived. You want winds of change? Brace yourself. The world, in effect, is being blown off course.

Pentecost reminds us that God’s work in the world can sometimes leave us unsettled and mystified. It can take us out of our comfort zones. But every now and then, we need that. We need something (or Someone) to jolt us out of the world we know and take us someplace new. The people gathered in the Upper Room learned soon enough that “driving wind” might take you where you never expected. It might even shift the tides of history.

- Deacon Greg Kandra