That Holy Room

Written By Vita Poetica

A Poem for Pentecost

by Jacqueline Wallen

I’ll always remember the day

God’s spirit fell as tongues of flame

that rested on our heads but didn’t burn.

A powerful unity swept through the room,

God was in us. We wanted to tell the world.

We danced, even our arms

danced high and waving here and there.

I heard strange languages (and spoke one myself)

but I understood each one.

In every language we were praising God.

Some of us talked, some sang, others shouted

People in the street outside shouted too:

“Shut up you drunks!”

But we were too drunk on God to stop.

It didn’t last, of course, we sobered up,

but part of me is still in that holy room,

beside ourselves crazy with joy.

 
 

Jacqueline Wallen is an Associate Professor Emerita in the School of Public Health at the University of Maryland, College Park, and a licensed clinical social worker with a private practice of psychotherapy. She is a member of Seekers Church in Washington, DC, and lives in Silver Spring, MD.

Vita Poetica https://www.vitapoetica.org
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