FEAST OF PENTECOST

PENTECOST LITANY

                    

Come Holy Spirit.

Come Spirit of God.

Wind, Fire, Praise,

pour into us

surprise into us,

create into us new life today.

Come Holy Spirit.

Come Spirit of God.

Breathe into us your gifts,

especially the ability of seeing your gifts,

shining in every person that we meet today.

Come Holy Spirit.

Come Spirit of God.

Give old people young visions,

give young people old wisdom,

and give both the fire and the desire

to make their dreams come true.

Come Holy Spirit.

Come Spirit of God.

Send a strong rushing wind

into the upper rooms of our minds,

replacing stale, paralyzing fear

with fresh, ongoing peace.

Come Holy Spirit.

Come Spirit of God.

 Help us to stop talking 

long enough to hear,

that we’re really not listening 

to each other,

but we're speaking in the language

of babbling that divides us.

Come Holy Spirit.

Come Spirit of God.

Give us the gift of tongues,

give us the ability of speaking

in the language of love that unites us

Come Holy Spirit.

Come Spirit of God.

Help us to all work together

to build the City of God,

with Jesus as the Tower

and the Ladder that touches the sky

and takes us into the Kingdom.

© Andy Costello Markings

May 14, 2016

COME  HOLY  SPIRIT

Come Holy Spirit, come.

Come God, Spirit, Holiness.

Come to me as Wind, Breath, Air….

Come to me simply as a cool breeze -

so silent, here, invisible at the edge entrance

of my mountain cave …. my hiding place.

Or come to me as a loud wind, shaking me,

shaking my windows, pounding my doors,

getting me down to my foundation rocks

Come Holy Spirit, come.

Come God, Spirit, Holiness.

Come to me as Fire, Flame, Spark,

singeing my soul, scorching my selfishness,

reducing me to ashes, so I can rise to new

life, a new start, a new Church, a new next.

Come Holy Spirit, come.

Come God, Spirit, Holiness.

Come to me as Word Seed,

as you came to Mary,
as you jumped off the scrolls
of sacred scripture into so many,

come to me as you hovered

over Christ as a dove.  Let me also hear

your song: “You are my beloved son,

my beloved daughter, in you,

I am well pleased.”

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016

May 13, 2016  - Friday the 13th

INITIALS

Why do initials carved in trees

and park benches and cement

bother me?  I was a kid once.
Does this mean that I have

become an adult - or a critical
crotchety old crocodile ? Or is more?

I don’t know. I just know I don’t

like anyone to announce to the

world by carving on a tree or a

bench or into new cement, “Jack

loves Jill”  or “Kilroy was here.”

Do it some other way!  Please.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016

SAINT PANCRAS

Today - May 12 - is the feast of Saint Pancras.

When we took a train from London to Brussels, to get to sight see Bruges, we had to go to the station at Saint Pancras. That was where the train that went through the Channel Tunnel was: the Eurostar.

I began wondering what a train station in London - named after a saint - was all about.

I looked it up. 

Pancras was a 14 year old kid - who was beheaded in Rome for being a Christian. This took place way back around 304.

Pope Gregory the Great sent Augustine - not THE  Saint Augustine - but Augustine who was to become Augustine of Canterbury - to England. He gave him some relics of Pancras to take along with him  - as he went there to bring Christ to England - way back when.  In time various churches named "Saint Pancras" appeared on English soil - if I have this correct.

In London, there was Old Saint Pancras Church. 

I could not find out for absolute surety, if that was where the Saint Pancras Train Station was built. It looks like a church is part of the whole enterprise.

Great train station - worth seeing if you go to London - even if you don't take a train.

It has great statues. It's a great place for people watching. It has great sounds. It's a great place for picture taking.

Check out the enclosed videos.

Amen.

May 12, 2016

CEMETERIES

There’s a certain pause - when we drive

by a cemetery. There’s something

sacred - below those stones. So too -

all our inner gravestones - heavy - here

and there in the deep soil of our souls:

with names, dates, some words - some

memories - that sum up a loved one.

And then - when we die - those memory

gravestones are buried below with us.

And then - our gravestone rises up in the

green, green grass of  Some Cemetery -

as well as the down deep hope we all have - 

that someone from time to time visits our grave

- visits some memories, says a prayer of thanks,

and then drives home not alone but with us

in the down deep graveyard in their soul.

  

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016

May 11,  2016

PRESENCE

Sitting on a strong wooden bench -

near the pond, I closed my eyes and

listened to the sounds - sounding all

around me. I surrendered to You,

O God of the Mirror  Waters - O God of

the Universe - O God of the Without and

God of the Within. Creation continues.

Insects - a whole symphony orchestra -

were playing in stringed violin harmony

on this crisp, cool evening - before the

dark night arrived. I heard a train whistle

in the distance - and then a glunk sound -

as if a rock or something hit and sunk into

the water of the pond. I knew I was not alone.

  

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016

May 10, 2016

THE  FROG  AND  THE ROBIN

The old frog and the new robin stopped to look at each other - for just one tiny, tiny moment. 

Frog: “Oh, to be young again.”

Robin: “Oh my God! You're ugly. I hope that never happens to me.” 

Frog: “That comment really hurt.”

Robin: “Let me tell you something, Mister Frog: my life’s going to be different than yours. I’m going to soar. I’m not going to crawl."

Frog: “Honey you have no idea what you’re in for. Take a good look at your actuaries. My life span is  4 to 15 years of life. Yours, sorry to inform you, is only a year and a half for most. That's just the way it goes.   But don’t forget to enjoy the flight.”

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2016