Pentecost

Two things for Pentecost. First of all a Painting by He Qi the Chinese artist, which evokes the spirit and fire and hints of Pentecostal wind.  He was the CMS Artist in residence a few years back and painted a wonderful image for the CMS office in Oxford. You can see it here: The Art of Mission 

And then a prayer by Walter Brueggemann from his excellent book: Prayers for a Privileged People

“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” John 3:8

We hear the story of the wind at Pentecost,
Holy wind that dismantles what was,
Holy wind that evokes what is to be,
Holy wind that overrides barriers and causes communication,
Holy wind that signals your rule even among us. 

We are dazzled, but then – reverting to type -
We wonder how to harness the wind,
how to manage the wind by our technology,
how to turn the wind to our usefulness,
how to make ourselves managers of the wind 

Partly we do not believe such as odd tale
because we are not religious freaks;
Partly we resist such a story,
because it surges beyond our categories;
Partly we had imagined you to be more ordered
and reliable than that. 

So we listen, depart, and return to our ordered existence:
we depart with only a little curiosity
But not yielding;
we return to how it was before,
unconvinced but wistful, slightly praying for wind,
craving for newness,
wishing to have it all available to us.
We pray toward the wind and wait, unconvinced but wistful.

Walter Brueggemann Prayers for a Privileged People

a school in Kashmir burnt in reaction to a pastor in Florida

Ed Lorenz famously said that a butterfly flaps its wings in the Amazon and there is a Hurricane on the other side of the world. (1972 “Predictability: Does the Flap of a Butterfly’s Wings in Brazil Set Off a Tornado in Texas?”) A threat of burning a Koran by a small town pastor of a tiny congregation in Florida and the next thing you know there are riots in Kabul and then in Kashmir schools being burnt. It is worth noting that this is a supposed 'reaction' or response to the proposed 'Koran Burnings' that did not actually happen. Fighting fire with fire just does not make sense to me.

I received a number of messages about the Tyndale Biscoe School in Tangmarg. I visited it a couple of months ago and it was definitely one of the highlights of our trip - seeing the kids reherse a cultural performance they were doing for their proud parents. And a real sense of bringing education to remote under-served areas where it was most needed. I remember two young girls I spoke to during the tea break and their dream to be doctors..... Now all such dreams are on hold.

I include some of the messages as I received them and the unfolding story of this senseless waste.....

Bishop Pradeep Samantaroy of Amritsar writes:

following the Quaran burning threats in America, the Tangmarg branch of the Tyndale Biscoe and Mallinson Educational Society in Jammu and Kashmir has been put on fire. Curfew has been imposed. Even as this message is being typed, the school building is still burning! Kindly pray that peace will be restored soon and that nobody is hurt.

Read more from the local press in Greater Kashmir and Kashmir Observer

LATEST UPDATE:

S. Samantaroy The School students are not hurt. The building has totally burnt down. It was entirely made of wood. Though the officials were informed of a possible attack and requested for safety there was no action taken. The mob even stopped the fire brigade from reaching the spot. We are yet to procure a photograph. We will keep you updated.

Bishop Pradeep Samantaroy I am heart broken because I was involved with the Tangmarg School from the time we selected the land. I saw the building built and the School grow and flourish with committed staff and beautiful Kashmiri children. The School was more like a beautiful garden. How can I see it turn to ashes? The students are crying because they learnt their School is no more.