[Propertalk] Fwd: [propertalk.topic] Backdraft
Joe Parrish
joeparrish at compuserve.com
Wed Jun 8 16:46:05 EDT 2011
Forwarded:
-----Original Message-----
From: Frank Fisher <f.fisher.obl.osb at comcast.net>
To: midrash <midrash at joinhands.com>; PRCL-L <PRCL-L at LISTSERV.LOUISVILLE.EDU>; propertalk.topic <propertalk.topic at ecunet.org>; SBA <SBA at SBAbbey.com>; sermonshop.sermons.topic <sermonshop.sermons.topic at ecunet.org>
Sent: Wed, Jun 8, 2011 11:44 am
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Backdraft
Here's my draft for Pentecost using the Acts pericope.
__
Frank R. Fisher, Obl OSB
www.ffisher.net
Interim Pastor
First Presbyterian Church of Kewanee, IL
www.fpckewanee.org
Elmira United Presbyterian Church
www.elmiraunited.org
aka
Brother Oscar Romero
Oblate of St. Benedict's Abbey
Bartonville, IL
www.SBAbbey.com
"When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so
that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice."-Cherokee proverb
______________________________
<<Bang Bang Bang Bang>>
The banging sound reverberates
from the door
directly to your right.
It reverberates
through the smoking wood
and echoes
down the long,
dark,
steaming
hallway.
The sound
increases in urgency
and then
weakly
tapers off.
It's the weakness
that catches your attention
as your mind
flashes back
through the day's
events.
For a change
your day began quietly.
As usual,
you arrived
at your fire house,
and put your bunker gear
on the hook and ladder.
Then you sat down
for a cup
of coffee
as you awaited
your officer
and the department's
plans
for your day.
By the time
your coffee was finished
you'd learned
your company was due
at the academy
for training.
That time of learning
occupied
most of the day.
Much of the material
was quite old to you
and often
it was very dry.
But you paid attention
for you knew
your life
might depend on it.
Particularly,
you paid attention
to a discussion of backdrafts;
the explosive reaction
of a smoldering fire
when its suddenly
gifted
with a new source
of oxygen.
Now,
as you crouch
below the smoke
in the sweltering hallway,
the discussion of
backdrafts
comes quickly
to your mind.
For you reach out
to the door
of the room
from where you heard
the knocking sound.
And you find,
the wood
almost burns you
through
your protective glove.
Instinctively
you know
there's fire
on the other side of the door;
fire
that could explode outward
if the door was opened;
fire
that could cause a backdraft
consuming everything
in its path.
Quickly.
you radio for help.
But you find
no one will arrive
for several minutes.
And a quick survey
shows
there's no other entrance
to the apparently
occupied room.
You've just about decided
to wait
for help
when the knocking sound
comes again.
This time
its combined
with a weak cry.
"My baby!
Please help!
My baby,"
gasps a voice
from directly behind the door.
The time
for hesitation's over.
You stand upright
into the smoke and haze.
You brace yourself
on the left hand wall
and lift your feet
to smash down the door.
Your feet
tear into the wood.
The hinges start
to give way.
And you know
your life
may end
in an instant.
But you
are a firefighter;
sworn to protect
the people
on the other side
of the now
splintering door.
And for you
to be
the person
you are called to be
there are moments
when you must
dare
to rush
into the heart
of the fire.
<<Bang Bang Bang Bang>>
The banging sound
reverberates
from the windows,
and echoes
throughout the upper room;
the room
in which you
and your friends
are hiding.
The sound
constantly
increases
in urgency.
And it brings
your mind back
to the events
of the last few weeks.
All in all
you still feel a bit dizzy
as you think
of what's happened
in your life.
It feels
like it was
only yesterday
when the Master
rode into Jerusalem
at the head
of a triumphal procession.
It was a wonderful day.
But all too quickly
it was followed
by the crucifixion.
All of you
stayed limp and numb
for three days
until Mary
burst into the room;
shouting
the wonderful news
of the resurrection.
Your whip sawed emotions
had barely
time to recover
when the Lord
was off again.
This time,
as you'd watched
his ascension
into the clouds
you had a feeling
the Light of the world
had gone away
for good.
Of course
there was his promise;
his promise
of his continuing presence
with you;
his promise of power
allowing you
to tell the good news
to whole world.
But now
as you hide here
from the Romans
a promise
seems
an empty replacement
for the
physical presence
of the Living God.
So you continue
to huddle about the table
while you talk
and wonder aloud
about the promise.
"When,"
you all ask each other,
"will this promise
be fulfilled?"
But your talk
and questions
are interrupted
once again
by the knocking
resounding
from the windows.
"Could it be the Romans,"
you gasp out?
"Could this be . . ?"
A vast booming noise
stops your words
in your throat.
The windows
all blast open
as something
like a wind
rushes
into the room.
Your hair stands on end
as you look up
into the face
of the gale
and see the ceiling's
covered
with something like flame.
Then the flame
swoops downward
and something
like tongues
of living fire
reach out
to touch your head
and the heads
of each person
in the room.
The gift
the Master promised
has arrived.
All around you
your friends
rush to the doors
and burst
through them
without bothering
to throw open
the latches.
They're shouting
and speaking
in languages
you never heard.
All of them
are joyfully bellowing
the still living story
of Jesus the Christ.
But somehow
the gift
has touched you
differently.
For to you
it brings not new language
but the courage
to rise
from your hiding place,
to tell the crowd
what's going on
in their midst.
You hesitate
just for a moment.
You know
to go
outside the door
and tell of the Lord's
life, death, and resurrection
will one day
bring about
your own death.
It will be like
opening a door
to a fire;
a fire
consuming
your body
in a devouring flame.
But your hesitation,
lasts only for an instant.
Then you race
through the door
and you hear your voice
shouting,
"People of Jerusalem,
these are not drunk
as you suppose . . . . "
The fire
will consume you.
This you know,
and accept.
For you
are a follower
of Jesus the Christ.
You live
and breathe
through the wind and flame
of the Spirit of God;
Christ's blazing gift
to Christ's people.
And for you
to be
the person
you are called to be
there are moments
when you must dare
to rush
into the heart
of the fire.
<<Bang Bang Bang Bang>>
>From all around you
the knocking sound
reverberates.
It echoes
down the hallways
of your memories
and rebounds
through the pathways
and hallways
of your life.
You began
to hear it
when you first moved
in your mother's womb.
You heard it sing
at the moment of your birth
and felt it dance
when the Baptismal waters
washed over your head.
Through all your life
its been there
calling you.
"Follow me,"
it cries!
"Tell the good news!
Speak it
and live it
in a way
all may hear and see.!"
The knocking
is Christ's gift to you;
the same gift
that burst into the room
at Pentecost;
the same gift
that changed a group
of frightened
women and men
into the transforming church
of Jesus the Christ;
the same gift
that can empower
congregations
and turn about
lives
today.
You may hesitate
to answer the knocking
when it comes calling
deep within your soul.
And hesitate
you should.
For when you open the door
the gift will burst through
as a devouring fire.
A fire
driving you
to go
where the Spirit
bids you go
and speak
as the Spirit
bids you speak.
Do you dare
to open that door?
Do you dare
to take
this part of your life
so seriously
that it will define
who you are
and who
you will be?
It is your choice
to make.
But in your choice,
remember,
you've declared yourself
to be a disciple
of Jesus Christ.
And for you
to be
the person
you are called
to be
there are moments
when you must dare
to rush
into the heart
of the fire.
To God alone be glory.
Amen.
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