Where the wind blows

What a great feast Pentecost is!   It is one of my favorite because of the wonderful music that was written for our Vespers office monasterypodcast.com and because I love the imagery given to us by scripture of what the Spirit is like:  fire, dove, wind.   My favorite is the ‘wind’ image.  Sometimes if I am sitting somewhere and a random breeze happens to touch my face out of the blue, I wonder if that’s my guardian angel brushing his/her wing on my skin or I wonder if it is the Spirit drawing me back into the Sacred Presence.   I also love feeling the power in storm winds as they blow through.  Sometimes the wind blows so hard in Clyde, MO that I can lean forward into it and not fall down.   So breezes and winds can remind me of God’s presence.  

The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.  John 3:8

In discernment, we have to let the Spirit blow where he will, just like the wind that is mentioned in the above scripture quote.  The Spirit will be gentle at times and perhaps like a storm wind when trying to get our attention.   Sometimes you just have to duck and cover!  We can’t control the wind or the Spirit so we might as well just go along for the ride.    

This reminds me of a quote attributed to St. Hildegard - “I am a feather on the breath of God."

This is a lovely image if I imagine a soft summer breeze gently moving the feather (me) along. 

A strong wind blowing me along doesn't seem so bad either, I'm more afraid of the time of no breeze when the feather is just laying there...stuck.  

We can feel stuck in discernment and in our spiritual journey.  Keeping vigil for the wind to blow again is the only thing we can do.  Perhaps just laying there can allow us to take a closer look around us instead of rushing on to the next thing.  

The wind blows where it pleases... (and when it pleases!)