As our local high school football season begins this week, I thought this reflection would be appropriate. “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 3:8 (NIV)

One night at a high school football game, a couple of friends and I were chatting during half time when one of them was distracted by something he found interesting. In the end zone, four spirit flags had been placed in an arc. (Picture those oblong flags some people use to promote their business or call attention to a store or event.)The flags weren’t necessarily the interesting part – nothing highly unusual about that at all. The intrigue stemmed from the fact that only one of the four flags was fluttering in the wind.  My friend pointed out how strange it was that none of the other flags were moved at all. Yet, the one, single flag was whipping at a good pace just feet from the others. 

At the time, this was not a serious moment of scientific discovery; however, we did briefly mention the idea of a crosswind and then quickly ruled that out. As my friend was perplexed, the rest of us proceeded to joke about his deep observation because he dared to distract us with it at a football game of all places! What was he thinking – it was just the wind! Duh!

After making light of this observance and apparently refusing to see what God would have me truly see at the time, later that weekend I came across John 3:8 on the cover of the church bulletin. Upon reading it, I immediately thought about those flags at the football field and suddenly my friend seemed very clever and insightful. “The wind that blows wherever it pleases” chose to effect only one flag that evening. Leaving us wondering where it came from to be able to do that so selectively.

This realization coupled with this scripture caused me to take a closer look and make a comparison. A comparison of the wind to the people in our life. 

People move in and out of our world minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, year by year. Affecting us in different ways. Just like the wind, some folks are that gentle breeze. A cool relief on a hot day. Or the warm wind that envelopes our being and warms us throughout. You know those times when, seemingly out of nowhere, someone says or does something for you that gently raises your flag so to speak. Puts a good wind in your sail. Then there are those people who whip through our world fluttering our flag first in one direction and then quickly in another. Sometimes tangling us around the flag pole.

Worth contemplating as well is our effect on others: How are we like that wind in the lives of others? Blowing wherever we please. In our homes are we the gentle, calm, refreshing breeze or the fierce tornado leaving nothing in our path but destruction? 

The wind is a powerful force – unseen but heard and certainly felt. We talk of the winds of change and so it is with life on Earth … “So it is with everyone of the spirit.” John 3:8

In life we are whipped around by people, events, and circumstances. Life can change direction in a brief moment. Our responsibility is to make sure we are well grounded and secure in our faith so that we can withstand, endure, and – yes – enjoy the breeze!