Friday, January 28, 2011

Tattered and Torn, Windblown and Free


Reciting, recalling, remembering verses isn't something that I do. The long rows of filing cabinets inside my mind are hard to access sometimes. Sometimes, it's as though the processing speed is intentionally sped up by someone else and thoughts slide into my mind with as much ease as a seasoned ball player slides into home plate ahead of the tag. A few have stuck with me through the years because they have literally been breathed into my life repeatedly by Him. My children have caught me in mid thought with my eyes closed, head tilted up to the ceiling or open sky, deeply concentrated and trying to find the answer to a question. There are also times where I refuse to exert that much brain activity and the internet searches begin.



One verse that has continually been recalled...brought forth...found inspiring...takes on new depth...or is shown to me personally in new and more beautiful ways (as I am a visual type of person, I enjoy a good day dream) has been John 3:8, "The wind blows where it wishes; and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone born in the Spirit" (ESV)." Want to spend some time in my brain today to see how it works? This morning, I was getting caught up on FB, like I do every morning, and saw a great post from Paul-Anderson Walsh talking about his journey (with a photo of a tree growing up inside a waterfall area) and also where Ted Nelson had posted some more lovely pictures of he and his wife's (Georgie) trip to New Zealand. There were pictures of the shoreline and water from their boating trip to Whangarei Bay. The vegetation is unlike anything that I have ever seen, and that is not surprising since I have never stepped foot outside of North America. While the vegetation is unrecognizable, a tree is pretty much a tree, right? Have you ever noticed what trees look like if they have grown along a coast? When trees are planted or seeded beside water, they are susceptible to high winds. Their roots grow down into the rocky coast...sometimes their roots are visible because the shore has been eroded away by the crashing waves through time. It could be a perfectly calm day with minimal breeze and yet a shoreline tree may look to be in motion because of the constant wind it is usually subjected to. Trees that have grown up in a forest setting may shoot straight up and as they bend and twist in the wind, they rub up against one another and reach for the sunlight above. Very little undergrowth can be found in a mature hardwood forest because of how little light reaches the forest floor. I began thinking about how the Spirit blows us to and fro. We can't possibly know when our Father will choose to stir up or allow the wind to blow us about. Our exteriors and interiors can become tattered and torn...for we are windblown and free...for our roots go down deep into Him. There are other times in which I don't imagine myself to be a tree with it's root firmly planted into the soil, but rather a beautiful red maple leaf on a sunny autumn day. As the leaf is released from the tree in which it came from, it's journey isn't complete. The wind will kick up as we have had the revelation that in Him is all we need and we are released into our full time dependency and relationship in Him. The Spirit will blow and carry us to a meadow...to the covering of the dark forest...back out into a manicured lawn...swoop us up and lay us down into a lazy moving creek...wash ashore on the sandy beach...dry us out in the sun once again...and repeatedly be subjected to His moving...His timing...His sovereignty...until the day where our earthly bodies become one with the soil and our spirits are permanently united with Him.

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