Holy Bewilderment: You Are Not Alone
What I Saw at a Funeral
Last week, I went to a funeral that wasn’t “religious”—no cross, no preacher, no sacred music. And yet, it was one of the holiest spaces I’ve stood in.
The room was packed. People of every race, language, age, and gender identity filled the room—pierced teenagers in combat boots, elderly folks leaning on canes, families speaking in sign language and Spanish and Arabic and English. Some cried quietly. Others wore grief like protest. Some prayed. Some didn’t.
I stood there—a 47-year-old white queer man—watching this beautiful chaos and thinking, “This shouldn’t work.”
But somehow, it did. We grieved. We celebrated. We told the truth. Together.
It felt like what I now call the Kin_dom of God. Not kingdom or dominion—those are too imperial, too gendered, too small. This was something else: a space of holy difference, where the Spirit moved freely among us. In the in-between.
That moment brought me straight to Genesis 11—the Tower of Babel—and to Acts 2—the story of Pentecost. Both texts ask:
What happens when God shows up in difference, not sameness? What if you are not alone in your confusion, but exactly where the Spirit begins?
From Bricks to Bewilderment
The people in Babel had a vision: “Let’s build a tower… make a name for ourselves… never be scattered.” Sound familiar?
It was unity by control. Order over vulnerability. Safety at the cost of Spirit.
Amy Frykholm calls it an attempt to “undo their creatureliness.”
They wanted sameness—not because it’s beautiful, but because it’s safe.
But God doesn’t bless that kind of building.
So God scatters them. Not to punish, but to preserve the human soul from being buried in concrete.
Because uniformity is not unity, and control is not community.
And even in the collapse, you are not alone.
A Different Kind of Fire
Jump to Acts 2: Pentecost. Another gathering. But this time, people wait rather than build.
And then: wind. Fire. Multilingual holy mayhem.
Everyone speaks. Everyone hears. Everyone understands.
Not because they become the same—but because the Spirit translates their differences into connection.
As Frykholm puts it, this is a shift “from sameness to diversity, from safety to bewilderment.” It’s not a reset. It’s a re-creation.
A holy undoing of assimilation.
Diversity isn’t erased—it’s divinely amplified.
Who in your life has had to speak someone else’s language—literally or emotionally—in order to be heard?
We’re Still In Between
We aren’t in Babel anymore. But we’re not quite at Pentecost either.
We’re in-between. Where church often happens.
Where we long for certainty but get surprise instead.
Where we want order and get the wind of the Spirit blowing through our lives.
That’s where the Spirit thrives: in the unpredictable, the chaotic, the beautiful mess of difference.
When have you felt bewildered by God? What if that confusion is where real faith begins?
Pentecost reminds us:
We don’t need to control the wind.
We just need to listen.
And speak.
And trust that even in the wildness—we are not alone.
You Are Not Alone
Let’s say it again:
You are not alone—
when your faith feels like it’s falling apart.
when grief silences your prayers.
when you don’t know what language to use in church.
when you feel like you don’t belong.
when you show up anyway.
The Spirit of God is still speaking.
Still blowing wide the doors of what church could be.
Still reminding us: the dream of Babel is over.
The dream of Pentecost is just beginning.
And in every language, in every life, through every voice:
You are not alone.
Want to Go Deeper?
Here are two reflection questions you can bring to your own community or journal time:
Who has helped you feel heard in your difference?
Where in your life do you need to let the Spirit blow you off course?
Hashtags for SEO and Social Engagement
#PentecostSunday #YouAreNotAlone #InclusiveChurch #Genesis11 #Acts2 #HolySpirit #QueerFaith #ProgressiveChristianity #FaithAndDiversity #AmyFrykholm #JohnMcClure #NadiaBolzWeberStyle #ChurchBlog #SpiritualReflection #BiblicalDiversity #LGBTQFaith #SacredBewilderment #YouBelong #GodInTheInbetween
