CATCHING THE WIND OF THE SPIRIT
“Rounds of fierce storms swept over Texas and the southern Plains on Tuesday,” the news report began, “uprooting trees, overturning semi-trucks, damaging buildings and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses.” Over the past few weeks, headlines have announced similar stories. One Tuesday morning media report tallied 22 storm-related deaths over the Memorial Day holiday. Then there was the National Hurricane Center’s less-than-comforting announcement that we should brace for an exceptionally active hurricane season. Hurricane season begins June 1 and already the center is tracking three tropical storms with the potential to develop into hurricanes.
Wind carries with it tremendous energy. This energy is both destructive and beneficial. On the one hand, a tornado’s 150-200 mph winds can level whole towns and leave thousands without power. On the other hand, almost ten percent of our nation’s electricity is generated by wind power, which is now the largest source of renewable energy in the United States, according to one clean power organization. While we think of wind energy as something new, it’s actually very ancient. The Egyptians used wind energy to sail down the Nile several thousand years ago.
Ancient people were well aware of the wind’s power as well as its risks and benefits. The Book of Genesis describes wind as a key force in the creation of the world. “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.” (Gen 1:2). It’s a mighty wind from God that blows back the waters of the sea and allows the Israelites fleeing Egypt to pass dry-shod between the mounded up waters. “The LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night.” (Ex. 14:21). In Ezekiel 37, God commands the wind to bring the valley of dead bones back to life (vss 9-14).
Scientifically, the wind is actually life-giving, just as Ezekiel’s vision proclaims. “Without wind, most of the Earth would be uninhabitable. The tropics would grow so unbearably hot that nothing could live there, and the rest of the planet would freeze,” writes Lyll Watson in his book Heaven’s Breath. Winds, Watson observes, are the circulatory and nervous systems of the planet. They distribute energy and information. They allow energies of warmth and awareness to circulate so there are no “dead zones” of unbearable heat or un-survivable cold.
So is it surprising that when we celebrated Pentecost a couple of Sundays ago, we heard how “suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.” (Acts 2:2) The Spirit’s coming is compared to a mighty wind full of energy and power. It unleashes creative power, like that wind sweeping over the face of the deep. It sets us free from all that enslaves and diminishes us, like the wind blowing back the waters so the people could pass through dry-shod from Egypt to the promised land. It blows through our lives, bringing back to life those parts of ourselves that feel barren or parched as Ezekiel’s wind blows through the valley of dry bones, bringing life-giving breath to what has perished.
In the Pentecost story, the Spirit’s rush of wind changes the emotions and outlook of the frightened and disheartened disciples. The Spirit’s winds inspire them with courage and confidence to go forth in mission. Belief that the wind can affect our perceptions and emotions has been around for centuries. There’s a whole category of folklore that links the wind to emotions and moods. This folklore even gives names and personalities to specific winds. There’s the snow-melting Chinook that blows in the northwest US. Or the dry Santa Ana winds that fan wildfires to southern California. In his 1938 book Red Wind, mystery writer Raymond Chandler writes how Santa Ana winds affect his characters’ moods and emotions. “There was a desert wind blowing that night,” Chandler writes, “It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. … Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands’ necks. Anything can happen.” When the Fohn wind blows in the Alps, the Swiss are said to complain more of headaches, insomnia, anxiety, and depression.
One cognitive science researcher proposes how winds influence how we feel and think. A strong wind can make us feel like we’re being swept off our feet. So emotionally we begin to feel unstable and out-of-control. And thus we want to grasp at control. Walking in a strong, fast wind, he suggests, causes our minds pick up speed and think faster. A hot or cold wind can make us more hot-headed or cold and reserved. There are a lot of expressions we use that link types of winds to our moods and experiences. We say that someone “blows hot and cold,” for example. We can be energized for finishing a project because we “have a strong wind at our backs” and feel like we have a “second wind.” Then, when we finish, we say, “That was a breeze.” Of course, we can also “have the wind knocked out of us” because we “threw caution to the winds.” I had better stop with these idioms about moods and the wind before everyone thinks I am just being a “windbag.”
What I can say is that I trust what the Bible’s description of the wind has to say about how the wind of God’s Spirit gives strength to the weary, opens new possibilities to those enslaved to their past, or brings new life out of dry bones. Those are the promises that Pentecost opens before us. Pentecost reminds us that when the wind of the Spirit blows through our lives and the church, it can change our moods and our attitudes. It can set us free from what limits us. It can cause the dry, waste spaces to blossom and bloom.
So the next time you feel the warm, soft wind blowing in your face or you read a news report of high winds and hurricanes, let it be an invitation to remember how the strong winds of God’s Spirit power our lives and blow God’s church to unexpected blessings and surprising experiences.
Pentecost Season Blessings,
Pastor Thomas