Sunday, Aug 24: Wind

The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8)

Air is a thin skin surrounding our planet that makes life possible.  It is a series of gasses (mostly nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide) that has no color, form or texture.  We can’t see air; we only see what it is doing, like helping birds to fly, moving seeds, rustling leaves, or making ripples on a lake.

Air is the most mobile of the elements, flowing in currents around the globe.  It is everywhere, even in soil and water.  But because air is invisible, we don’t often remember how much we need it.  Our lives are sustained by breath.  The movement of air allows us to both speak and hear. 

The ancients used the same word for breath, wind and Spirit (πνε ῦ μα (pneuma) in Greek, and רוּחַ (ruach) in Hebrew.)  Consider what it means to say that the Spirit is like the air. Imagine the Spirit flowing around the world, close to everything on earrth.  The Spirit surrounds your body like the air.  You cannot go anywhere that the Spirit is not (Psalm 8).  The Spirit sustains your life as you breathe, working within you and helping you to both speak and hear.  If you allow it, the Spirit will push you in the direction God has chosen. 

Try this sense activity:

Go outside. Notice the evidence of the air all around you, moving leaves, flowing through grass, touching your skin.  Take a deep breath, listening to the sound of air connecting your inner and outer world.  Give thanks for the Spirit that encircles the world and is as close to you as your breath.