Day 8 – Tongues of Fire Were Prophesied
Days of Waiting – Day 8
Today’s reflection sits with three prophetic texts that the Upper Room community would have been reading in those days of waiting: Joel’s promise of the Spirit poured out on all flesh, Isaiah’s vision of the Spirit resting on the shoot of Jesse, and Ezekiel’s extraordinary vision of the valley of dry bones.
The image from Ezekiel has stayed with me most. The bones come together, bone to its bone. Sinew and flesh cover them. The structure is assembled. But there is no breath in them yet.
The disciples in the Upper Room were, in a real sense, that valley. The community was gathered. The Twelve had been restored. The prayer had been sustained for eight days. But the breath had not yet come.
One more day.
The Syriac tradition holds that Scripture and Spirit are never separated. When we open these prophetic texts today, the same Spirit who inspired them is present in the reading. Joel’s promise, Isaiah’s vision, Ezekiel’s breath, these are not ancient words about a distant past. They are present words, addressed to us, now, one day before the fire falls.
