"Various Voices 2018"-an international gay and lesbian choir festival, representing groups from all over the world (although predominantly in Europe) has just taken place in Munich May 9-13. This was surely a case of the (holy) spirit escaping from the bottle, although no Pentecost took place. This much any participant or member of the audience can confirm. The Sueddeutsche Zeitung (15.5.2018) in an article entitled "A Festival of Love" affirmed that the festival communicated a message of hope and creativity. We can only completely agree with this verdict.
What can Europe learn from this festival?
A huge amount!
When human beings come together to sing or to create music, they produce a harmonious atmosphere. Individual languages are no longer important. The fact that the songs are rendered in English, Icelandic, Portuguese, Dutch, Spanish, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Irish, German, Finnish, etc. represents no obstacle to understanding. All the more so when the people who in this case have come together to celebrate a common sexuality and to show the world that their commonalities are so great, an atmosphere is created which the Bible refers to as the Pentecost-the descent of the Holy Spirit. This perception cannot be summoned up by a mere pushing of the button. This year it was summoned at the Gasteig already one week before the Christian feast of Pentecost.
Europe and indeed the entire world just now desperately needs a spirit of this kind. In every corner and at every reach of the world there is a sense of crisis; some want to dismantle the European idea and destroy the existing common European spirit. To such people the answer must be a loud and energetic "No!" Europeans who are not gays or lesbians in their deepest inner would like to experience this spirit. European gays and lesbians, together with bisexuals, transgendered people and intersexuals together with homosexual-friendly men and women should sing "Freude schoener Goetterfunken", the European hymn together and force the Pentecost spirit to spill over Europe. That would be a real Pentecost for Europe as promised in the Bible.