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Good morning, Covenant Family. Today I am sharing a poem with you - a sonnet by English poet Malcolm Guite. This poem is called Pentecost and is a reflection on that day when the Spirit of God broke uniquely and powerfully into the world, as recorded in Acts 2. It was published in a collection of sonnets by Guite called Sounding the Seasons. I pray it offers you something to think about in this Covenant Weekly for June 4, 2024.

Today we feel the wind beneath our wings
Today  the hidden fountain flows and plays
Today the church draws breath at last and sings
As every flame becomes a Tongue of praise.
This is the feast of fire,air, and water
Poured out and breathed and kindled into earth.
The earth herself awakens to her maker
And is translated out of death to birth.
The right words come today in their right order
And every word spells freedom and release
Today the gospel crosses every border
All tongues are loosened by the Prince of Peace
Today the lost are found in His translation.
Whose mother tongue is Love in every nation.

I love that last line describing Love as the mother tongue of the Prince of Peace. I’ve heard this reflected in some songs that I love. If you are so inclined, you can look up the song Native Tongue by the band Switchfoot. In that song, they exhort us to rediscover the language of love as they sing:

Feel your heart beat, bang the drum
Open up your eyes and fill your lungs
The same word from where the stars are flung
Love is a language
Love is your native tongue

Probably my favourite example of this is in the song Lovers in a Dangerous Time by Bruce Cockburn. The bridge has one of my all time favourite lyrics when he sings:

When you're lovers in a dangerous time
Sometimes you're made to feel as if your love's a crime
Nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight
Got to kick at the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight

Covenant family, as you go through this week, may the Spirit of Christ empower you to live and speak the native language of our Prince of Peace. May you be strengthened as you continue to learn to speak it fluently offering, as Guite wrote, freedom and release across borders. May you have the courage to keep kicking at the darkness with the force of Love and celebrating the daylight when it bleeds through.

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