A song for Pentecost

Listen to "Breathe in Me, O Holy Spirit," a song for Pentecost

Fifty days after Easter we celebrate Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit. After Christ ascends to heaven, the feeling of God-with-us changes. When God comes as Spirit, God becomes incarnate in us from the inside out. The Spirit is so elusive that we give it many different names: fruit, breath, wind, flame, harvest, birth, transformation, understanding. When you see it all written out, it’s a pretty wild idea.

I try to think about how I explain it to my kids. After Jesus was Resurrected, his body went back to be with God. But God didn’t want us to feel lonely, so God sent a Spirit of Love to live inside each of us. The Spirit is different to every single person - God made us all unique. Sometimes the Spirit works like glasses - we find Love hidden in the world and we share it with each other. Sometimes the Spirit works like a powerful wind - Love makes us brave and feel free. Sometimes it’s a quiet voice giving us words to speak Love out loud.

For my song, I’ve put St. Augustine’s Holy Spirit prayer to music. This Eastertide contained painful anniversaries, illness, busyness. Singing Augustine’s words helps me surrender to the slow unfolding of Love in my life and the lives of those around me.

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Breathe in Me, O Holy Spirit 

Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit,
That my thoughts may all be holy.
Act in me, O Holy Spirit,
That my work, too, may be holy.

Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit,
That I love but what is holy.
Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit,
To defend all that is holy.
Alleluia. 

Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit,
That my thoughts may all be holy.
Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit,
That I always may be holy.
Alleluia.

What I love, what I need,
What I fight for may it always be holy.

Alleluia.

Words mostly by St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430)

Mixed by John Mark Painter
Mastered by Edsel Holden
Keys and vocals by Allie Levanway
French horn, pump organ, harmonium, cello, percussion by John Mark Painter

Thanks to all the new folks that found their way here. You can learn more about this project here.

With every new song comes a podcast of evensong - a short and simple sung prayer service with readings based on the day. The Pentecost episode is coming sometime this week, so be on the lookout. It’s a good one. After Pentecost, things liturgically quiet down and we enter Ordinary Time (all clergy and their families breathe a collective sigh). But I’m gonna plod on thru with some songs about some lesser-known feasts and TBD ! Don’t miss out on the fun!

Soon, I will be offering a way for you to make a financial contribution to this project to help pay for things like recording costs and child care. Everything will remain free to the public. If you are grateful for this work, here are some things you can do now that might help this fringy project grow:

• Telling people about it on social media but maybe also in your church’s newsletter, bible study or mom’s group on Facebook

• Following me on Spotify (visit my artist profile here and click Follow)

• Like & subscribe to the podcast in Apple and leave a review (visit this link, click Follow, scroll down and leave a review!)

• Buying the music is always helpful but FYI, I only receive pennies on the dollar