Driving down Interstate 35 through Iowa, looking out into the corn and soybean fields, one cannot help but be impressed by the wind turbines standing straight and tall on the horizon. There is a majestic nature to their very presence, the blades turning slowly, making the watcher aware of the invisible……wind. I cannot even fathom how they really work.They are pure mystery to me and, it seems, pure economic and ecological genius to those who own the land on which they stand.  The whole idea of ‘harvesting wind’ to create energy, electricity, is a powerful concept, a powerful metaphor.

In the Pentecost story told in Acts, the Holy Spirit is described as a rushing wind. That wind blows through the people and their lives are forever changed, their community is infused with energy….. electricity….. and their faith becomes a source that draws people to them and fuels their lives. They move from being a group of ordinary people to an extraordinary community. In a sense, they also were ‘harvesting wind’.

Do you remember those little pinwheels you had as a child? A straw or stick with a colorful paper or plastic wheel which you’d blow on or hold into the wind, watching the air catch the colors and turn them into a spinning, whirling blur. It was such a simple toy….but what fun! The invisible source…..sometimes caused by your own hot air….caused this static thing to become beautiful movement.

Perhaps that is what the Spirit longs to be for us…..that invisible Source that causes the static places in our lives, in our communities, in our world to become beautiful movement. Like the wind turbines hovering on the edges of our vision, or the pinwheel in our hands, the Spirit continues to offer energy for our lives. All we need do is remember to go to that Source.

" The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound,
but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is
with everyone born of the Spirit." John 3