Wind

I’m no poet. However, I recently read that ‘free poetry’ simply means putting one thought into one line – no more and no less. 

In the spirit of ‘exploring creativity’, while sitting on a hill in Lilydale, outside the Point of View cafe, I tried. In a spirit of humility, I now post this on my blog. Is this poetry? (You can say ‘no’!)

Noise of wind in trees

How to commit this sound to paper? 

‘Ssshhhh, sssshhhh’

Like hushing a child to sleep

Breeze caresses my cheek

Hair blows across my eye

Wind picks up

Pages flap

Clouds visibly move east

Plane determinedly flies west,

A grey dash against mottled white

What is wind?

My educated post-enlightenment influenced mind wants to understand the scientific nature of wind. Changes in temperature cause differences in air pressure cause movements of air particles. But what exactly IS wind?

Wind is a form of energy, along with light, fire and moving water. But that still doesn’t answer my question. What exactly IS wind? 

I think of the ‘ruach’ (which could be translated as spirit, wind and/or breath) of God of Genesis 1:2. In that passage, describing the formless and empty earth, we read that the ‘ruach’ of God hovered over the surface of the waters. The word usually translated into English as ‘Spirit’ can actually just as easily be translated ‘wind’ or ‘breath’. I imagine the breath of God as pure energy hovering in anticipation of creation. 

Mind you, that still doesn’t answer my question of ‘What is wind?’

Never mind.

Bible

There are many references to the Hebrew רוּחַ ‘ruach’ (Spirit, wind or breath) of God in the Old Testament and the equivalent Greek πνεῦμα ‘pneuma’ in the New Testament. It would be overly simplistic to say that spirit is wind and breath, but the fact is that the Biblical terms can be translated as ‘breath’, ‘wind’ or ‘spirit’ in English. This shows that in a Biblical worldview, there is at least some overlap. A helpful article provided by the Logos software folk expands on this in what they call “… a few summary observations.” https://www.logos.com/grow/the-breath-that-moves-through-everything-a-survey-of-ruach/ 

Two other key Biblical pictures of ‘wind’ spring to mind. Ezekiel’s stunning vision of dry bones restored to living, breathing people (Ezekiel 37:1-14) involved breath and wind. Translators sometimes choose ‘breath’ and sometimes ‘wind’ when translating this scene, but both come from the same root word ‘ruach’. (See a screenshot below of the verse.) Then some 600 years later, there was that “sound like the blowing of a violent wind” (Acts 2:2 NIV) which accompanied the gift of the Holy Spirit the first Pentecost after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Undoubtedly, the two pictures are related.

Who is God?

I’m glad God chose to reveal himself to us through his son (Hebrews 1:2) because my head just can’t get around this force of energy and source of life apart from Jesus. Having said that, the writer to the Hebrews goes on to say that Jesus, the one through whom God revealed himself, is also the one “through whom he made the universe” (Hebrews 1:2 NIV). I think back to that hovering ‘Breath of God’ as described in the beginning of Genesis and wonder if that, too, was Jesus. In this very attempt to equate the two, I’m displaying my limited understanding of our Creator and Sustainer.

I appreciate that the eternally infinite God revealed himself to us in temporarily finite humanity – Jesus.

A Prayer

Wind

Breath

Spirit

Hovering over the deep

At the dawn of creation

Invigorating dry bones

Restoring life

Descending with fire

Indwelling Spirit

Breath of God

Breathe on us afresh