I should have written this post a week ago when it was actually very windy outside. A funny take on my title since I literally missed writing about the wind ON the windy day! haha :) And it hasn't been very windy at all since then! Nevertheless, I am still able to write about it because it is one of the wonders of nature that ministers to me so very much. "How can someone miss the wind?" Easy...by focusing on the messy hair, the papers flying away, the leaves or seeds flying off of a tree and into one's eyes. There may be a statement made such as, "Oh that wind!", but it's purpose can be missed. The wind is that healing mechanism God sends our way to remind us that there is reprieve for the faint-hearted. The wind is all around us to envelope us and give us a sense of security...the security that we are alive, and not just simply alive, but alive with a purpose...just like the wind. When it is hot outside, what do we love more than a cool drink to quench us? We love that wind, that breeze that brushes our faces, blows back our hair to cool our scalp, and relaxes us.
We know a tempest blow can cause such destruction that there is no turning back. The mighty wind is to be respected. It is part of nature. It is totally out of our control, yet we think we try to control it by holding up an umbrella or our hand to block it. We see the effects of the wind, we feel them, and fortunately, we can even smell them at times. I absolutely love when gushes of wind blow around me, and the paralyzing scent of a blooming jasmine stops me in my track. I can't get enough of it. I have to keep sniffing the air...sniff after sniff. The wind is my friend then, don't you think? One of the best, simple pleasures in life is looking out the window and seeing trees sway, colorful leaves glistening in the sun, and the only way you can see the fullness of the glisten is because the wind is moving them!
Have you ever stood at the bottom of a tall aspen tree in Autumn and looked straight up? I have done that. It was the most amazing thing. I just stood there, watching these little hands of yellow dance wildly back and forth, all around because the wind was, in essence, the puppeteer. I remember being at youth camp long ago and our campground was in the mountains. There was a big field we had to hike up to, and it was vastly open. My friends and I laid down in the grass, and I felt the breeze come through the trees across the field. I watched clouds move by so fast. The combination of the wind and those clouds made me feel the closest to Heaven I have ever felt. That's the wind.
NEXT WEEK: Oh, the beauty of a life lived with manners