1 When God began to create[a] the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was complete chaos, and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God[b] swept over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. Genesis 1:1-5
One of the things that has been so prevalent in my time in Southern WI is the wind! The wind never seems to stop blowing here! We moved here from the Foothills of the Blueridge Mountains and there were windy times. But year round it seems there is never a time without at least a breeze and most times a stiff wind. As I write this today, the spring sun is warm and lovely and the wind is still a bit chill! Early May is when the farmers are desperately trying to get their crops in the ground. This year it has been very wet and most farmers and gardeners are a bit behind schedule. These sunny, windy days quickly dry out the fields and when we have a couple of them in a row, inevitably we have tractors and equipment running to and fro trying to make good use of the time!
The temperatures of the soil and the water that is prevalent here in WI and the air temperatures are dictated by the sun, each of these heating at different rates, hot air rising and cold air falling. Add that to the spinning of this big ball we call Earth and you have wind! Most times it is welcome, but sometimes it is a bitter pill! Storms and chilling winds are all part of the joys of WI just as much as that warm, summer breeze we feel sitting by the lake!
The ancients believed that in some way the wind was part or an act of God. If you read the first few pages of Genesis or the second chapter of Acts, you would know the wind as the breath of God or the Holy Spirit, the part of God that brings about change. It tends to make me think differently about the breeze when I reflect on that imagery. The winds of change.
We are just on the verge of some of those warm, spring days as I write this note. This year it seems that winter held on extremely long! I am ready for the change of the seasons. I can feel the creative Spirit of God blowing and flowing around me as I walk along the lake in Monticello.
I remember reading an Ojibway Saying that went something like this: “At times I go about pitying myself, and all the while I am being carried by a great wind.”
May you feel the breath of God breathing new life into your world! Amen.
— Reflections appears regularly on the religion page. The column features a variety of local writers, coordinated through the Monroe Area Clergy Group. Lance Smith is pastor at Zwingli United Church of Christ in Monticello.
