A mid-afternoon breeze is whispering soft and gentle, rustling the spring’s tender green leaves and pinging soft symphonies on the wind chimes. Father Sky has sketched a layered overcast sky of melted vanilla swirls. The clouds are large, their bellies the color of cigar smoke. Occasionally some purple bellied clouds join the mix. Mother Nature watercolored the sun a hot yellow but she’s hiding behind a curtain of clouds, shy today. The birds are enjoying the feeders and the newly mowed grass.

Never fails when the grass is freshly mowed, a large wood thrush comes for a visit. The wood thrush sat erect on the bird bath, like a hood ornament on an old Dodge Ram pickup, before he drank and then bathed in the water, splashing and preening his wings. A nuthatch, a downy woodpecker, some chickadees, three doves, a red headed woodpecker, and a flock of the raspberry finches joined the songbird gang today. The finches are on the feeders but not squabbling. Their ring leader must be in jail waiting for them to pay his bond. I see mainly female purple finches so they are minding their manners. I enjoy watching the handsome male cardinals this time of year, their plumage so cardinal red, almost fluorescent. And the females in their wondrous fawn brown colors highlighted with oranges and reds. I love watching the birds from my perch on the porch swing. Always feel the beautiful little songbirds are gifts from heaven.

I just saw a large black dragon fly land on the porch tile near me. So gorgeous in its fluorescence but I hope it wasn’t following the big king snake Balthazar that occasionally visits the porch. Had to shoo Kat away. She wanted to eat it, honestly she probably wanted to torture it. My daddy always called dragonflies “snake doctors.” Said there was usually a snake around when you saw a dragonfly. I sincerely hope one is not around now ‘cause I might need a doctor if there is.

A little research and I discovered the dragonfly was really a male ebony jewelwing, a broad-winged damselfly, so handsome with his iridescent green body and large black wings. Damselflies’ wings are the same size and shape. Dragonflies have different shaped fore and hind wings. Check out the next dragonfly you see. It might be a damselfly.

I am in love with this pleasant breeze as I sit in the swing watching dusk approach. In Bible scripture wind is a symbol of the Holy Spirit’s power. I feel God’s true presence in the whispers of the breeze, his gentle breath in the ending of the day’s light. In Chapter 19 of 1 Kings, Elijah feels the presence of God as a “gentle whisper.” Elijah endures powerful wind and fire, all symbols of God’s powers, but realizes God’s presence is in the quiet breezes. “God provides the wind, man must raise the sail,” St. Augustine.

We don’t have to find God in moments of grandeur, we can feel him in the soft winds of spring. He’s all around us in Mother Earth’s winds. John 3:8 states, “The wind blows wherever it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So also is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” We can hear the wind, feel it brush across our cheeks, watch it bend the tree’s branches, but we can’t see it or know where it’s going.

We don’t see the grace of God or the Holy Spirit but we feel the transformations and the spiritual renewal in our lives when we’re dedicated to our faith. The wind reminds us of God’s power in our lives. We face challenges when the strong winds blow but God’s grace can turn those storm winds into gentle breezes.

“The grace of God is a wind which is always blowing.” — Ramakrishna