And the Rose Petals Went Flying

Yesterday was Pentecost Sunday… the word for the day is wow.

One of the big things my old buddy emphasized in our hard core candor filled convo was “Let the Holy Spirit guide you”. A most appropriate set of words of wisdom for the 7th week of Easter just prior to Pentecost. Alas, like a lot of things, words said on one day don’t necessarily hit home until later, ie the last thing I was thinking of when we talked was the liturgical year… well, in going over the lectionary on Friday, things hit home and it was like, “isn’t this fascinating!” but that wasn’t the only bit.

When I started this blog back in 2007, my first post was “no longer walking away when God opens the door“, and it seemed a most appropriate overall theme, but I had no idea where it would lead. Such turned into yet another “fascinating” bit too.

So I’m searching for this impulse stimulus thing… how to clear my head, how to start on the path of a new normal. And like a lot of things, the answer was right in front of me… it had been pretty much programmed into my brain through hundreds of repetitions, but it didn’t hit home until yesterday afternoon. I kept pondering big huge things, but there was nothing seemingly big enough. Elijah ran into fires, earthquakes, and massive wind in 1 Kings 19. He was rocking and rolling those head on, but God was not in them. Rather it was the still small voice… of which the intense holiness brought him to not rock and roll it, but to cover his face, The thing is, I was involved in a musical focused on 1 Kings 19, even 28 years later, its emblazoned in my memory… but in my heart, not so much, at least not until yesterday. The answer is likely not going to be found in the big and huge, no matter how I try to force it to come about, but in the still small voice of God. Yet another extremely “fascinating” bit.

Church on Sunday was a tricky deal… I woke up 6 minutes before the service started, got ready, shot out of my driveway on my bike at full speed and was in my pew for the last stanza of the first him. When you are up until 6AM, forget to set your alarm, and then wake up with 6 minutes to spare before church starts, that’s not the sort of message from God you hit the snooze button on… so I rock and rolled that as quickly as possible.

The readings went in one ear and out the other… didn’t hear a thing, but being I always try to ponder the lectionary before church (sometimes a week, sometimes days, sometimes minutes LOL), thus not picking up on them directly in the service is not that big a deal… and then Pastors Sermon on the rose petals. I remember thinking, ok, where is she going with this… and then sort of phased out due to lack of sleep. When I got home, it was like I’m sure I heard what I needed to hear, but what does this mean?

…and the first thing I saw was the dozen roses I got for my wife some time before we did the ambulance run to the community ER, and then to Mayo’s ER, the ICU, the hospital, and her passing. They’ve long since taken a header, but I haven’t been able to put them aside… but there is great peace now. They will become compost such that the circle of life will continue as they fertilize the produce I’ll be cranking out for the food shelf this summer. A fascinating bit…

But this isn’t the whole story, as the day progressed, the sermon came together even more.

A little context is probably key in this… La pioggia di petali di rose is incredibly profound. In a nutshell, its a special mass held at the Pantheon where in rose petals fly from the oculus down to the ground, symbolizing the Holy Spirits action on Pentecost. Some believe it has ties all the way back to the early church, where as others lean towards 609AD due to the Pantheon being dedicated as a church at that time. Which ever date it started, its been going on for a very long time…

Check out this youtube video for an example

Note the barriers keeping most people from the center just before the 30 second mark… granted, they do make sure every person that attended gets to keep a rose petal, but still.

I get this… it makes logical sense to limit the number of people, it preserves good order, its a rule of man.

But with God, rules of men are often thrown to the wind..,

The rose petals don’t follow them, they ride on the currents of air, the wind of the Holy Spirit. Some even hit the camera far outside the barrier, some no doubt landed on the peripheral edge of the Pantheon as well. Most fascinating…

And the rose petals went flying

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