SPIRIT WIND

NATIVE AMERICAN WIND SYMBOL

SPIRIT WIND

“The wind gives our children the spirit of life.”—Chief Seattle

They say that God is in the wind and as a boy growing up in the windy mid-western Kansas plains I came to instinctively sense this. I was keenly aware of this especially as I hunted the prairie grasses for wild quail and prairie chickens while the ubiquitous winds carried them away ahead of me.  Jesus mentioned in John 3:8 (just before the well-known John 3:16 verse) that “God’s Spirit is like the wind that blows wherever it wishes. You hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going.” God made his presence known at Pentecost via a violent wind, fire, and his Holy Spirit.  However, when Elijah needed a message in 1 Kings 19 there was a great wind, an earthquake and finally a fire, but God was not in any of these.  Then God’s message came in a gentle whisper.  It’s up to us to be aware and many times to retreat from the chaos and noise of the world around us and simply listen humbly and quietly to the silence born on gentle breezes.

God has communicated to humankind over the centuries verbally, with angels, in dreams, and through His Son. Since the time of that revelation of himself over 2,000 years ago, he is more to be felt than seen.  I’ve been fascinated by Native Americans because I believe they lived a harsh but harmonious life out in God’s creation every day of their lives. They were convinced of the existence of a Great Spirit and the sacredness of the earth. They viewed winds as the personification of a divine messenger and an autonomous living force.  They observed the path of the winds to be this divine being sweeping through the land.  And they considered this being to be a counselor, a term that also defines the role of the Holy Spirit.  The Navajo, Apache and Hopi use a diamond shape to symbolize the powerful four-fold nature of the four winds: freedom, eternity, unity and balance.

It’s interesting to note that both the Hebrew and Greek words for wind, breath and spirit are the same. God breathed life into the first human beings. The air around us has been described as the kingdom of the heavens. We certainly can’t survive without it. Is it merely composed of natural elements like oxygen and carbon dioxide, or is there something more transparent and spiritual at work in this rarefied air?

When we’re out in God’s creation and enjoying the experience of the life he has given to us, we can begin to feel his presence. I believe God is in these winds more so than anything else in his created universe. And these caressing breezes provide a closeness for some of the most sublime moments in our life as a child of God.

In the Old Testament book of Ezekiel, the prophet had a vision of God leading him to a valley of dry human bones. The dry bones represented the hopelessly and spiritually dead condition of the people. And God told Ezekiel to prophesy that the breath of the four winds would come and breathe into those slain, that they might live. And life was restored as the bones rose up and lived again! Once God breathes His spirit back into a people, they will have new life! 

"Tell me a fact and I’ll learn. Tell me a truth and I’ll believe. But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever.” – Native American proverb

WATER POWER

Jordan River Headwater Waterfall, Golan Heights, Israel
Dry Falls, Nantahala National Forest, NC

We’ve all witnessed, either on television or in person, both the power and subtle peacefulness of swift roaring rivers at high noon and deep still lakes at dawn. Even so, an old Portuguese proverb warns us to beware of silent dogs and still water! Frozen water can be highly deceptive as well if you ask those who have literally skated on thin ice or oceanic ship captains who have navigated around menacing icebergs of the planet’s frozen poles. If you’ve ever vainly sought out the source of a water stain on the ceiling of your living room at home, you know that water can meander along roof beams and ceiling supports for some time before finally dripping onto your ceiling. Ground water can circumvent all sorts of obstacles such as underground foundations and slowly penetrate the slightest of unprotected cracks and fissures. We must be vigilant and protect our homes from the constant threat of destructive, penetrating moisture.

And water is surprisingly heavy and destructive. A cubic yard of water weighs nearly 1,700 pounds—as much as a Smart micro car. It takes more than three million cubic yards of concrete to hold back the water behind Hoover dam. The pressure of this contained water reaches 45,000 pounds per square foot at its base. Containing the enormous power of this water enables us to generate electricity. We’ve witnessed earthen dams along the Mississippi collapsing when the mighty river floods over its banks. And we’ve stood in awe at the Grand Canyon to see how the Colorado River has carved out the gigantic rock formations over eons of time. Stones are carved into bowls merely by the constant dripping of water over time. We’re drawn to the powerful sounds of moving waves and waterfalls.

Human beings can only live for 3 minutes without air. In a harsh snowing environment, we can only survive for 3 hours. We need water beginning after 3 days or we will perish. It won’t be fun, but we can survive for 3 weeks without food. Water makes up 65% of our bodies and is obviously very essential to all life. Ecclesiastes reminds us that all streams flow into the sea but it never fills because of the continuous cycle of rains over the land. This lifeless inert earthly water only satisfies temporarily and can be destructive.

A church is built on the strong foundation of Christ from whom living water flows. Jesus offered this living water to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well so that it would dwell in her leading to eternal life. The Spirit dwelling and working in believers is like a fountain of living waters that flow out to a thirsty world. Unlike running waters that can harm a physical foundation, these living waters of God’s love strengthen the foundations of all who come into contact with them. They’re dispersed to those seeking meaning and purpose which then flow out into the community and then into all the remote corners of the world. These living waters give us hope and quench our thirst for solace and comfort and new life in a broken world.

ACTIVATING THE SPIRIT WITHIN

Spirit Flame, Jamestown, NC

In Euclidean geometry, the equilateral triangle has all three sides equal with all three internal angles equal and congruent to each other. Among all the world’s religions, Christianity is the only faith that teaches that God is one being that exists as three; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Each being in this Trinity delights in and glorifies the other. This Triumvirate has related to each other for all eternity and was introduced at Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River when all three were present. Adam Hamilton writes that “Jesus was declaring that he was the Son of Man, God was declaring that he was the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit descended (in the form of a dove) to give power for the ministry ahead”.

The Holy Spirit was made available at Pentecost (in the form of wind-blown flames) to all who accepted Jesus. We receive Jesus at our baptism and we receive the Holy Spirit when we accept Jesus. John baptized with water to wash away sins while Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit to comfort us, guide us to the truth, remind us of His teachings, inspire us with the right words to say and give us power.

When I recently purchased a new vehicle, it came equipped with the electronics to communicate with a satellite out in space for flawless radio reception. However, to actually experience the technology imbedded deep within my dashboard, I had to make a conscious decision to activate my account. We work to follow Jesus’ teaching to establish a kingdom on earth by activating the Holy Spirit within us—the Spirit that we receive as a christening gift at baptism to be our counselor, our comforter and our guide. And there’s no activation fee—the price has already been paid. So may the love of the Father, the grace of the Son and the communion of the Spirit be with you always.

BREATH OF LIFE

Blowin' in the Wind, Jamestown, NC

It’s interesting that both the Hebrew and Greek words for wind, breath and spirit are the same. God breathed life into the first human beings and Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit into the first disciples after his resurrection. This counsellor and comforter is always with us throughout our mortal lives. This wasn’t a CPR type of life giving event, but a supernatural event that follows with the human soul’s departure on our last breath. I’ve sensed our creator’s presence in the winds and soothing summer breezes that is His healing breath. The air around us has been described as the kingdom of the heavens. We certainly can’t survive without it. Is it merely composed of natural elements like oxygen and carbon dioxide, or is there something more transparent and spiritual at work in this rarefied air?

A RELATIONAL GOD

Equilateral, Internet Domain

In Euclidean geometry, the equilateral triangle has all three sides equal with all three internal angles equal and congruent to each other. Among all the world’s religions, Christianity is the only faith that teaches that God is one being that exists as three; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Each being in this Trinity delights in and glorifies the other. This Triumvirate has related to each other for all eternity. When the Son was challenged by the religious leaders of the time regarding which of all the commandments and laws was the greatest, he simply responded that we should love God and others, i.e., we should be relational. After all, we were created in God’s image so we should expect parallels in our being. We aren’t here simply as a part of God’s creation, but to share in creating while relating to our creator.

Self-giving or other-centered love versus self-centeredness is at the center of our universe. To be in touch with this universe, Jesus taught that we must lose ourselves in service to find ourselves. When we’re immersed in ourselves, we find that life becomes rather purposeless and futile. A good test to find the cure is to reach out to someone that we can help in some way. It’s amazing how quickly the focus on ourselves dissipates as we share something of ourselves for another fellow journeyman. And a joy of living enters our life to replace the unsatisfying pursuit of happiness through materialism, worldly power and recognition. This model for joyous living was revealed through the Son whose ultimate self-giving sacrifice was for the benefit of all mankind.

BREATH OF GOD

Prairie Winds, Central Flint Hills, KS

The book of Genesis is about beginnings. God spoke the universe into being and created human beings in his image. God is love and love expresses itself toward something or someone. Creation and destruction are constantly active around us. And the basic building block of all creation is the chemical star dust of that big bang. Human bodies were created from this star dust and human beings are given life the moment God’s “breath of life” enters the lifeless shell. The moment we breathe our last, our mortal bodies return to the star dust of the universe, presumably to be recycled into another creation. Modern science has long ago determined that matter can neither be created not destroyed.

Later in the Old Testament book of Ezekiel, the prophet had a vision of God leading him to a valley of dry human bones. The dry bones represented the hopelessly and spiritually dead condition of the people. And God told Ezekiel to prophesy that the breath of the four winds would come and breathe into those slain, that they might live. And life was restored as the bones rose up and lived again! Once God puts His spirit back into a people, they will have new life.

Later in the New Testament book of John, the resurrected Jesus appeared to His disciples behind closed doors. He greeted the disciples by informing them that as the Father had sent Him, He was sending them out into the world to spread the good news of forgiveness and eternal life. He accomplished this by breathing on them and informing them with the Holy Spirit to comfort and guide them. Only God still has the power to forgive sins, but now we all have the kingdom within us and the privilege of telling others that God’s priceless grace of forgiveness and an eternal spiritual life after death is available to all!