Post Author: Jane Cocke Perdue
Lately, Mary Allison Cates and Jane Cocke Perdue have been creating poetry and imagery for Shady Grove Presbyterian Church’s monthly newsletter, where Mary Allison is the associate minister. Below is Jane’s poem for the feast of Pentecost, which the church just celebrated last Sunday.
Pentecost
Wind’s swift burst,
fire flames lapping heat
lifted us from dejection.
Powerful spirit penetration
brought resurrection, renewal.
God’s breath poured, filled,
gifting second life
from our birthing cries.
Hope-crazed, we spoke
to street strangers
clacking sounds from other lands,
meeting stares and glares
from doubters of our celebration.
Together in place as one
transformed body of believers.
Had we not gathered there,
we would grow old
without our dreams,
be young with no grand visions,
living as before –
captives of dread and fear
each one
alone…
Mary Allison Cates is a Presbyterian minister. She has submitted her art numerous times in this publication.
Jane Perdue is a wife, mother, grandmother, teacher and poet. She is an ordained elder in the Presbyterian Church and participates actively - leading retreats, teaching adult classes and volunteering in outreach ministry. Her membership is in New Braunfels Presbyterian Church in New Braunfels, Texas. However, since her spouse retired from fulltime ministry in 1998, she has been traveling with him as he serves interim pastorates. They are now in Raleigh, North Carolina, at White Memorial Presbyterian Church - his ninth interim!
Image by:
SkitterphotoUsed with
permission
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