I’m increasingly attentive to the presence of sounds/hearing in the Christian scriptures, and today’s story of Pentecost is filled with them. From Acts 2
there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind
and began to speak in other languages
And at this sound the crowd gathered
each one heard them speaking in the native language
And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?
let this be known to you, and listen to what I say
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy
Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
This exemplifies that God’s presence is often an aural experience. It is in the various sounds, and the listening to the sounds that the presence of the Holy Spirit is made manifest.
This isn’t to diminish the beautiful and power visual imagery of the tongues of flame - and the joyous and powerful red of this Sunday, but the first indication of the Spirit was sound, and the result of the Spirit was more sound.