Holy Spirit, The Quickener of Life | June 8, 2025 | Rev. Dr. Kathryn Benton

Life

Holy spirit, making life alive,

moving in all things, root of all created being,

cleansing the cosmos of every impurity, effacing guilt,

anointing wounds.

You are lustrous and praiseworthy life,

You waken and re-awaken everything that is.

The opening music written by Hildegard of Bingen is a beautiful description of the spirit of life that not only ‘quickens’ all but connects us. This connection is a common ‘root’, with each branch of the root reaching for what is needed…nutrients and water…anchoring the individual to the earth and, as it turns out, to each other. Suzanne Simard describes this process like this:

Every root looked tenacious in its unique way, though their common job was to graft the trees to the earth. White papery birch, purple-red cedar, reddish-brown fir, black-brown hemlock. Keeping the mammoths from tipping over. Tapping the water that ran deep. Creating pores for water to trickle through and bugs to crawl along. Allowing roots to grow downward to access minerals.

But the roots do not grow in a vacuum. They are influenced by every other part of life. Simard discovered what is call a mycorrhizal network described as an underground network found in forests and other plant communities, created by the hyphae of mycorrhizal fungi joining with plant roots. This network connects individual plants together. Simard poetically describes this system like this:

Root begets fungus begets root begets fungus. The partners keeping a positive feedback loop until a tree is made and a cubic foot of soil is packed with a hundred miles of mycelium. A web of life like our own cardiovascular system of arteries, veins, and capillaries.

This comparison between the systems below the ground and those within our own bodies, and the bodies of other creatures was not lost on Hildegard in 12th century Europe. As a spiritual, social justice, musical and medicinal leader, Hildegard truly believed in the power of the spirit of life…the quickener of life to move in all things, making life alive! The spirit was the common thread…the root of all being.

This root is most often under the ground…beneath our awareness. We walk on this sacred earth without any recognition of its presence. We go about our daily life, often shut down, numbed or distracted. This, until something happens…we notice a root sticking up from the soil…or an unraveling of our routine…a failure to thrive. This is a time when we may need to go on a pilgrimage…a journey…a sojourn. This is a time when we need to connect more mindfully with the root and the related fungus and community of organisms that make up our foundation…the ground of our being. It could be that this ground needs tending…it could be that we need to reconnect with the ground of our being where the roots hold us close.

Today is Pentecost Sunday, a time closely connected with these roots…the roots of the church…the faith and a recognition of our connections. It is a time also linked to the pilgrimage tradition, especially at this time of jubilee that Rev. Jones-Bey spoke of last week. Jubilee is said to encompass a period of rest and restoration…of reflection and unification, as well as, pilgrimage. The pilgrimage and jubilee tradition have common roots in both Christianity and Judaism. The experience is described like this:

Pilgrimage is an experience of conversion, of transforming one's very being to conform it to the holiness of God. During the pilgrimage, one also shares in the experience of those who, for various reasons, are forced to leave their homelands to seek a better life for themselves and their family. (1)

On the surface, it seems that it is merely a coincidence that Muslims around the world have been celebrating Eid Al-Adha this week, an annual pilgrimage meant to be made by all Muslims at least once in their lifetime. Here is a quick tutorial of what is entailed:

Hajj Explained

This tradition…this Pillar of Islam is vitally important in the life of a Muslim. It is a chance to get together for the common goal of renewal of faith…awareness of roots…of tending the foundation of the spirit of life and of connection. Millions of individuals, speaking hundreds of languages, come together to practice this ritual, making the journey to Mecca. The pilgrimage symbolically provides for spiritual renewal and transformation, much like the description of the Christian pilgrimage/jubilee (1). It is also a reminder that we do not all have what we need in this world. We may be forced to travel, like Hajar, looking for water…looking for safety and when we arrive, we want to be welcomed as one of a community of human beings.

So, what does this mean for those of us not undertaking a physical pilgrimage? How are we to answer the call for renewal…to gain awareness of our roots…the ground of our being…to cross traditional boundaries and borders (Latin per eger, meaning border crossing) in order to transform our daily routine of unconsciousness and develop an awareness of that spirit of life…a recognition and acknowledgement of the mycorrhizal network described by Simard? How are we to answer the call to this transformation?

Miles away, oceans apart

Never in my sight, but always in my heart

The love is always there, it will never die

Only growing stronger, a tear rolls down my eye

I'm thinking all the time

When the day will come

Standing there before you

Accept this Hajj of mine

The artist, Irfan Makki is speaking of a pilgrimage, yes, but it is even more than the actual pilgrimage to Mecca. Instead, he seems to be referring to the pilgrimage within…the journey to what Thurman called the Altar of the Soul…the place of rest and renewal that is closer to us than our own breath…stripped to the literal substance of ourselves. The poet Rumi also speaks of this experience, calling us to come:

O you who've gone on pilgrimage -

where are you, where, oh where?

Here, here is the Beloved! 

Oh come now, come, oh come!

The Beloved is here! We may find strength and community…relationship and solidarity in the actual pilgrimage, but we are always invited to take the inward journey…the journey to our roots…to re-awaken the quickening spirit of life…to tend to the ground of our being…to re-connect with the source and goal of our longing…to cleanse the cosmos, both without and within…to efface guilt…rooting out evil both without and within and to anoint the wounds of all who suffer. May we gather strength to do this work, remembering that we are on this journey together searching for the common root and ground of our being. Rumi wrote:

Come, come, whoever you are.

Wanderer, worshiper, lover of leaving. It doesn't matter.

Ours is not a caravan of despair.

 Come, even if you have broken your vows a thousand times.

Come, yet again, come, come.

Instead of the caravan of despair, it is indeed the caravan of love.