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BREAKING
THE CHAINS < 51
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What is that rushing sound
where all has been so quiet?
Who howls around this house
making the blood run riot?
Who is it that they seek?
What passion in them strains
that they should shake the doors
and crack the window panes?
What comfort will they bring
or anguish bring about?
What if we let them in?
We cannot keep them out—
it is the breath of God:
at Pentecost they came
there to embrace their love
in arms of leaping flame,
a fierce and silent fire
that burns within the soul
until it is consumed
into the purest gold.
Written for a service at St John's, West Ealing at Pentecost, May 1991. Revised in 2019 replacing "him/he" with "them/they" to reflect both personal and gender plurality in God.
© Godfrey Rust 1991, godfrey@wordsout.co.uk. See here for permissions.