The prevailing winds were out of the south and that made for huge white caps on our side of the lake. As the Spring warmth rushes from the south to push the cold of winter back north where it belongs, we can experience some turbulent weather. This weekend was no exception with thunderstorms and battering wind that broke branches and even toppled trees. The power of the wind is often mind boggling. How can something we cannot see be so powerful.
"When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting."(Acts 2)
As the disciples gathered to celebrate Shavuot, a Jewish festival that celebrates the giving of the torah, they encounter this wild and forceful wind filling the house.
The Hebrew word for wind ruach, is also translated as spirit. The Hebrew nomads were very familiar with the wind patterns as they would follow a prescribed path indicating the coming season. From this word comes the idea of breath as it is the wind of man which also follows a prescribed path of inhaling and exhaling. The ancient Hebrew saw the breath as an essential part of the man, just as much as the mind is.
As our breath is such an essential part of us, so is the spirit that we were given on Pentecost. This spirit is the most powerful. The Spirit of love.
The power to heal isolation and brokeness.
The power to solidify relationships.
The power to overcome resentment.
The power to forgive.
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