This Sunday is Pentecost. One of the holiest days of the church calendar. The day the church was born, the Spirit flew free, and God showed that even though Jesus was no longer with his friends in body, he would always be with them in new and amazing ways. For one of my seminary classes I wrote a song about Pentecost and I thought I would share it here in honor of this special day.
Speaking My Language
Woke up this morning and put on my Sunday Best
Once of twice a year I try to go
Back to the kind of faith I had once as a child
Back when my heart was full and whole
Before the world closed in on me
And I saw more of life than one should see
Tried to slip quietly into the back pew
Make a quick exit at the end
This time would surely be no different than the rest
Once again go home empty handed
But as the pastor got up to preach
I felt something blow through me
Chorus:
Because she was
Speaking my language in words I could understand
Telling me about the Glory of God
Somehow I heard a work of hope I never knew
And his name, and his name was Jesus
I always thought the Spirit would blow like the wind
Not whisper like a loving mother
And though I didn’t see a spark or a fire
It moved me deep like no other
As I looked around I saw each precious face
I knew that God was with us in this place
Chorus:
Because she was
Speaking my language in words I could understand
Telling me about the Glory of God
Somehow I heard a work of hope I never knew
And his name, and his name was Jesus
Do you think I have what it takes to be a prophet?
Can I dream the dreams that God wants me to see?
What do I do if the world turns dark and starts to crumble?
Will what I say in God’s name truly be believed?
I will call upon the name of the Lord
I will call upon the name of the Lord
Chorus:
And she was
Speaking my language in words I could understand
Telling me about the Glory of God
Somehow I heard a work of hope I never knew
And his name, and his name was Jesus
Notes:
- We read this passage about speaking in different languages – but I wanted to read it differently, that is sometimes even when we use the same language we still don’t understand each other. Either we block ourselves from fully hearing the other or vice versa or we speak in a code the other wouldn’t know or understand. Sometimes I think in church we can get like that. The language and code words of Christianity, of our denomination, even of our own local church can be very difficult for an outsider to understand. So when I wrote this song I tried to come at from the perspective of someone who didn’t know those code words and maybe felt excluded for all her life because of it and then this one Sunday she comes in, she doesn’t even know why she comes anymore, but she’s empty inside and so she is still searching and for once the Spirit moves and all those things she couldn’t understand before suddenly become clear. I’ve heard and read different interpretations on this story in terms of the question: is the miracle in the speaking or the hearing. In the song I leave it ambiguous. It could be she now hears because her way of hearing has changed, but it could also be the pastor spoke in the way she could finally understand.
- Secondly I read a commentary that really grabbed me that said that though the people had been confused before and maybe couldn’t understand, their confusion just probably got worse after they could hear. Something so unbelievable to begin with that maybe the hearers would doubt their own sanity or even if that wasn’t true maybe the confusion might set in when people realized what this actually meant. The conversion experience, no matter how wonderful, often leaves us with more questions – what do I do next? How do I make my life reflect this new reality of my faith? How do I keep this feeling going? So in my song even after this woman truly hears the message she is asking questions – questions about her ability to live out of her newly changed reality. But in the end all there is left to do, always, is call upon the name of the Lord.
