From my archives…

The word for this beautiful blue sky day is windy! I’ve been watching the bamboo perform in a dance recital all afternoon, bending and swaying, knocking against each other, composing a rustling bamboo symphony like cymbal brushes on a drum set. The cardinals are latching onto the thin branches and enjoying the wind’s amusement park rides. I honestly don’t know how they hold on. The wind blew my porch pillows all over the yard and curled up the porch rug. I covered my little rose bush, all leafed out in spring’s tender leaves, with a big felt blanket. Put bricks to hold it down. Just hope Bootsie, the neighborhood yard dog, doesn’t drag the blanket home to curl up on.

Didn’t watch the sunset tonight, the cloud cover kept the pageant hidden behind thick vanilla colored clouds. Once the sun was down and the day’s gloaming began, Mother Nature painted a pale peach glow across the horizon, silhouetting the old oak trees dark limbs against the twilight’s sky. I love the shadows of the leafless trees at dusk but they are slowly dressing back up in their spring leaves. The sun turned out the day’s fading light and Father Sky pinned the moon and the bejeweled stars in the cold clear heavens to guide the night travelers. Day ends, night begins.

I’ve had the wind on my mind all afternoon, pondering on how the wind can be compared to the Holy Spirit. The wind moves and blows where it will and is unpredictable. We don’t know where the wind comes from or where it has been. It stirs the atmosphere and refreshes the air. We can’t see the wind, it’s invisible, but we can feel it on our face, hear it in the tintinnabulations of the wind chimes, see its powerful effects following terrific storms.

God’s spirit is invisible and powerful like the wind. We see his power as he moves through our lives and changes things. We can’t see God but we can feel his presence when we’re quiet in moments of prayer and thanksgiving. We can see his reflection in the glorious sunrises and sunsets. We can feel his love in our hearts and hear his voice through our prayers. The winds of God’s love inspire our faith and give us hope. Eliot Kang says, “Faith, like the wind, is abstract, metaphysical, intangible. You cannot see the wind; you cannot see faith.” I think we see faith through kindness to each other. Good deeds ride on the winds of God’s love.

We don’t see God but we do see his handiwork. Jesus healed the blind man, calmed the storm on the Sea of Galilee, and fed 5,000 with a few fish and seven loaves of bread. God’s power is in the winds of grace. He puts the breath of life in a new born baby and refreshes us with the winds of his love and grace. 1 John 4:4 reads, “When the Holy Spirit dwells in you; you then realize that you carry the winds of Heaven, and all of its abilities inside of you.” As we sail through life we need to keep our sails unfurled to catch the winds of God’s love.

“The wind of God’s grace is incessantly blowing. Lazy sailors on the sea of life do not take advantage of it. But the active and strong always keep the sails of their minds unfurled to catch the favorable winds and thus reach their destination very soon.” —Mahatma Gandhi