Blustery day

John 3:7-8 "You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' 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."

The wind has been blowing very hard now for a day and a half. It's spring time, still quite cold and with a wind to chill your bones. In spite of the cold temperatures, the bulb flowers are pushing up their green leaves and the trees are all budding.

Tonight is Good Friday - not a night for pondering spring time and new growth. But I went for a run this afternoon, out in the wind, and in being pushed around by the wind as well as focusing on my breath, the scripture from John came to mind.

The wind blows where it will - you hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. The Hebrew word for wind is also used for Spirit and breath. The wind that was pushing me around came in swirls and great gusts. No consistency, mostly from one direction but then a swoosh of leaves and sand would come around from the other direction.

God's beautiful creation includes more than just the glories of spring time. God's beautiful creation includes this body, how it's put together just so for walking and running, bending and stretching. It's amazing how all the different intricate parts work together - breathing in oxygen (from those trees) which is then transferred to the blood, then carried throughout the body in miles of vessels so that the muscles can keep moving, and then carbon dioxide is carried back out of the body via the same system (for those trees to use).

It's more than just how one body is complex and held together. My body is dependent upon the greater system around me. And I am part of it, not just appreciating it but involved in it.

A public blog is not the place to confess where it is that I have failed Christ, although that is what I always think of on Good Friday. What is different about this Good Friday is that I've done something about it. Confession and better use of my role in creation. Maybe that's what this running is all about - being more responsible with what I've been given, in body and creation - and being more attentive to the Spirit blowing around me.