We are just back from Ardentinny beach, where we met to celebrate Pentecost, using a barbecue and a bonfire. The sun shone, the kids swam in the sea, and there were NO MIDGES!

After all the eating, we sat around the bonfire and celebrated the birthday of the church, and presence of the Holy Spirit. We used this prayer to give shape to our activities-

The bonfire was surrounded with concentric rings scratched in the sand.

Come Holy Spirit

Come Spirit like rain, refresh, renew, revitalise.

Come Spirit like fire, embolden, enlighten, enable.

Come Spirit like a mighty wind, move, challenge, enkindle.

Come Spirit like wave, move, tear down, lift up.

Come Spirit, come Breath, draw us close, make song, bring intimacy.

Come Spirit, come Love, make one, make justice, make peace.

Come Spirit, come Kingdom, come Love.

Martin Brown/CAFOD

We took each sentence, and used it as a prompt for an activity- after each activity we added symbols onto the circle.

RAIN- we made rain shakers, and mister sprays squirted over each persons head. We then added cocktail umbrellas to the circle.

FIRE- we threw handfuls of sugar onto the fire, which flared up, and then lit candles and placed them on a circle.

WIND- we made paper windmills and placed them in the circle.

WAVE- we did a mexican wave, and imaged the moving of stones up a beach- adding a stone to the circle.

BREATH- we spoke of the closeness of breath, then took streamers on sticks, and added them to the circle.

LOVE- we added painted stones in the shape of love hearts to the circle (and collected them later to carry away with us.)

KINGDOM- we took a roll of gold foil, and wrapped it around the whole group as a crown- and a sign of being the agents of the Kingdom of God. We then stepped outside the foil as a sign of going outwards.

Then we closed by reading the prayer out loud.

And it was simple, and lovely, and soul-good.