Holy Winds

)
Genesis 1:1-2

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Call me the breeze
I keep blowin' down the road
Well now they call me the breeze
I keep blowin' down the road

"Call Me the Breeze" by J. J. Cale, recorded by Lynyrd Skinner from "Second Helping"

My favorite word in the Hebrew language is Ruach. There is an airy quality to the word that is appropriate because it means wind and breath. When you pronounce it, ru-aaaaach (heavy on the "a" light on the "ch") it sounds breathy, positively ethereal. It also means Spirit. So that wind from God that swept over the face of the waters is in truth the Holy Spirit of God.

Gotta love the breeze that creates, it continues to create, it keeps blowin' down the road. Even after six days of active creation of stuff and a seventh day where Sabbath is created, the breeze moves on down the road and continues the amazing work of God in all creation.

In Genesis, the breeze that blows across the waters, this breath of God, this spirit is imparted just before the light is created. It is the breath that blows across the chaos, across the darkness, across the void. This is the breath that precedes life. This is the breath that gives life to all creation.

This is the wind that comes off of the water in the morning. It’s the cool breeze that brings the dew to fall on the grass. It’s the summer breeze that rustles the leaves in the trees and tells us that all is right in the world. It is the Spirit that reminds us that God is in charge and regardless of the chaos of the world around us, it is the Spirit that says Emmanuel, God is with us.

The wind that blows across the waters of the formless void makes the form of our lives. And still, this wind calls us to listen and believe. When we stop listening to the word of God, when we quit feeling the breath of the Lord blowing across our faces, across our lives, we are not able to respond according to the Word. We instead pay attention to the words we hear from other voices.

When we stop listening to the voice of God, when we stop feeling the breeze on our faces and in our lives we stop forgiving and start retianing other’s sins. When we hear other voices, we do not hear the blessing of the Lord, “Peace to you.”