Pentecost and Wind

As you prepare for Pentecost, you might think about the role of wind. I spent some of my formative childhood years in Montgomery, Alabama, which had lots of thunderstorms and more tornadoes than any other place I've ever lived. I remember summer nights waking to the sound of the wailing sirens that meant a tornado might be imminent and going to the bathroom (the only windowless room in the house) to wait for the all-clear signal. So I tend to see wind as a destructive force.

It's only recently, and with the help of some excellent pastors and seminary professors that I've begun to notice how often the Bible features wind, wind which usually represents some aspect of God. Think about the great rushing wind that often symbolizes God's creative force.

Our Bible study leader at Synod Assembly told us about the Biosphere experiment and the failure of the fruit trees. At first, all seemed well in that enclosed environment. But the fruit trees failed to give fruit, and all the scientists wondered what was happening. Someone finally put the puzzle pieces together and discovered how important the wind is to fruitbearing. It's not about pollination. We can do that manually. There's something about being exposed to that force that hardens a tree in a good way.

As we head into Pentecost week-end, let's think about wind and speaking in languages we can understand and all the other ways the Spirit is moving in our world.