First Fruits of Pentecost

Many Christian high and holy days have been borrowed and adapted from other traditions. It's what happens when you're the new kid on the block and may fear persecution. Sometimes Christians "hid" their celebrations behind those of other religions. Pentecost is one of those creative borrowings. Jews were gathered in Jerusalem for Shavuot or Pentecost, including the followers of the Risen Christ. The Holy Spirit transforms them from "scaredy cats" to bold proclaimers of the gospel, according to Acts chapter two.

While I'm all for celebrating this birthday of the church, perhaps we all need to revisit the traditional meaning of Shavuot/Pentecost. It is a "first fruits" festival, a celebration of the abundance of the earth and harvest. Don't we need to explore every opportunity to celebrate the stewardship and abundance of God's good earth. A Jewish writer Shoshana Friedman offers this in a recent article:

In her book Scripture, Culture and Agriculture, Ellen F. Davis describes agrarianism as "a way of thinking and ordering life in community that is based on health of the land and of living creatures." She argues persuasively that the Hebrew Bible is, at its heart, agrarian literature; it is the story of a particular people who live in a particular fragile ecosystem and who struggle to maintain intimacy with God through their care of local, family-held lands that produce food over generations.In the midst of our global ecological crisis, Jews -- and indeed all people who hold the Hebrew Scriptures as canon -- must turn our attention to the deep connection among Judaism, agriculture and healthy communities.

I like this thought, and we Christians do honour the Hebrew bible, or what we often call the Old Testament. There can be an ecological component to Pentecost which informs our Earth-honouring faith.

It seems I can't buy a comment for this Groundling blog, but hope springs eternal. What are your thoughts?