Wind

I woke up to the sound of wind this morning. A low humming that rose and fell in pitch and volume. I’m sure there’s some scientific reason for how wind creates sound, but does that make it less amazing? I can’t see it; the only evidence it exists is the tree’s reaction to it. And that sound. Tornado and hurricane survivors speak of the sound of a freight train – powerful sounds, powerful forces, the wind. If I were blind (and indoors), could I identify that sound as wind?

From inside my home, I watch the barren tree limbs move as if by free will. They are dancing round about, back and forth, with no apparent purpose; and then they rest, as if tired from their exploits. The leaves on the magnolia tree shake and shiver. Then the sound picks up, and the dancing begins again.

Wind, breath, spirit. The Greeks and Romans envisioned wind as a god blowing air across the land. Simplistic to our 21st century brains, and yet. Isn’t there something beyond our grasp in the wind? Isn’t there something majestic and powerful and beyond our control?

And suddenly from heaven came a sound like the rush of violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Acts 2:2

Wind can be a gentle breeze on a warm day, cooling and refreshing us. Wind can uproot trees and blow away buildings. The wind ushers in changes in weather and stills the sails in calm seas. Always changing, ever present, unpredictable, uncontrollable. Somewhat like God. We know it’s there. We can feel it; we can hear it; we can see the results of its presence. But the wind does not operate at our beck and call, nor is it restricted by our expectations.

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

We do know, 2000 years later, that wind is created when air particles move from high pressure areas to low pressure areas; and we know the variation in the way the sun heats the earth causes the different air pressures. Somehow this knowledge does not take the mystery and beauty and wonder out of the wind. Nor does this knowledge enable us to control the wind.

Wind is amazing to watch. How many of us have stood at the window watching as the newscasters urged us to get to our “safe place”? I know I have.

Is it any wonder the wind reminds me of God? Mighty and marvelous, gentle and refreshing. Able to lift a kite into the sky or a ship across the sea. Able to change the landscape in a day.

Thus says the Lord: I am going to break down what I have built, and pluck up what I have planted – that is, the whole land. Jeremiah 45:4

I believe in wind. I have felt it. I have heard it. I have seen the tree branches and leaves move, even if I can’t see the actual wind. I know it can revive me on a hot day. I know it can harm me. A source of comfort, a source of change, a source of power. A lot like God.

I believe in God. I have felt His presence. I have heard Him whisper in my ear. I have seen obstacles and situations move and change, even if I can’t see God. He revives me when I am burdened. He holds my fate in His hands. A source of comfort, a source of change, a source or power.

In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Genesis 1:1-2

I woke to the sound of wind this morning…

Betsy