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Father Bennett has no plans to get glossolalia going again in his new post, a small missionary church, but he "mentions" it privately to people he thinks could benefit. "The gift of tongues is a freeing of the personality in expressing one's self more profoundly, particularly toward God, even though the symbols are not understood by the speaker. It does not happen in a trance. The person is releasing something deeper than the ordinary symbols of language."
Doyosi Ki-i-yeno. One evening last week, in an apartment motel in Van Nuys, seven Episcopalians of Father Bennett's former flock met together to await the coming of the Holy Spirit. Bursts of laughter from a television set across the courtyard invaded the reverent silence, but the two men and five women paid no attention, praying aloud from time to time for individuals in sickness or trouble and for "those who are resisting the out pouring of the Holy Spirit."
Suddenly it came. "Da sheontee kono meki no sienti holay coriente no sheonte mees . . ." said one of the women in a cool, musical voice. She continued for about a minute to utter these sounds, meaningless in any known language. No one glanced up or spoke. After a minute or two of silence, she "interpreted" what she had said: "The Lord thy God says unto thee that he is here in the midst of thee . . . When you pray, fear not. He is with you always, and his love surrounds you like a fleecy cloud. Thus saith the Lord." This was greeted by a chorus of quiet "thank-yous," then from another voice: "Doyosi ki-i-yeno mayashi yekatona masi yano ma yenda ya kotano masiki . . ."
California's Methodist Bishop Gerald Kennedy dismisses the movement. "In the past there have been movements of this sort, but they never did the church any good." But Seventh Day Baptist Paul Henry, a lawyer of Fontana, Calif., speaks for many of the "spirit-filled" when he says: "It's only my guess, but I think it may be an outpouring just before the termination of this age."