Living in the Spirit
June 9, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Genesis 1:1-2:4a

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. –Genesis 1:1-2

 Returning to Oklahoma by air from Denver several years ago, I sat next to a small-aircraft pilot who had been in Colorado to attend a special training session targeted at teaching pilots how to navigate through wind.  I asked if the classes had been helpful, and while he thought they were good, he said it wasn’t much help to him. Having flown for several years in Oklahoma, he had gained a lot of experience flying in wind and the classes did not cover much that he did not already know. The state song of Oklahoma includes the words where the wind comes sweeping down the plain for a reason*.

I recently drove straight north on I-35 from Oklahoma City to Stillwater. As I exited to Highway 51, I actually thought there might be something wrong with my power steering because I had to really work to keep the car in the curve. When I finally was headed east, I realized what was happening. A very strong wind was blowing from the south; the trees were bowing toward me as I passed. While I had been traveling with the wind I did not even realize it was there.

The Hebrew word for wind and for spirit is the same: ruach. The very start of the world was initiated by the Spirit, the wind of God. From the beginning of time humans have been challenged with going with the wind of God’s spirit. We learn to do that by both study and experience, sprinkled with a growing faith.

Prayer: Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.  Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me**. Amen.

*Oklahoma, Words by Oscar Hammerstein II and Music by Richard Rodgers
**from hymn, Spirit of the Living God by Daniel Iverson

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.