God's Touch in the Wind

Do you ever look for ways to encounter God? Do you think He wants to interact with you? I have found myself in thoughts of mystery lately as I wondered how/if God interacts not just with me, but with the earth He created.  Does he touch the earth? Is the wind God’s hands brushing the earth- moving the seas, and tickling the trees? I wonder when I feel a gust of air, is His voice being carried to me? The wind is both majestic and strong, yet seems vulnerable, unsteady and unpredictable. I’m held captive by the beauty it brings and drawn to the power.  Massive oaks sway and at times are uprooted.

I love that the ocean lets us steadily encounter the wind. Have you ever been walking along the beach after a storm? There’s a changing and unsettling presence;  a visual difference, there is also the steady familiar, like the smell of home. Underneath it all, we know what the freedom of wind sounds like. We look for it without even being aware. It’s root begins inside of our hearts, ever-growing and yearning for more. We experience it in snippets of time, drowning inside the glory of it for a moment, feeling the familiar ride the wind. We’re transported to another time and place, to the carefree innocence of childhood.

If you know me at all, you know my ideal day is spent at the beach looking for shark teeth.  I could gaze into the water, hear the repetitious waves and never be bored. I feel at home, like the part of me that can worry dissipates with the oncoming wave. It makes me wonder, “what is the magic of this place?” “What is the cadence I hear so clearly?” In part, it’s the possibility of change.

During a storm on the sea, the ocean’s depths churn and release what has been buried deep. The wind does it’s “magic” : releasing, freeing, churning the depths. This changes what will eventually be gifted to the shore by the tide. It’s a collaboration of sorts; sea and storm’s excavation plan. After a storm in life, I find myself holding the most unexpected gems.

As I look up from writing, I see the breeze blow through the curtains and onto me, like the breath of God in all His Glory letting me feel just a tip of His intangible magnificence.  Do I think God wants to interact with me? Today, I think the answer is yes.