Blog 2239 – 12.06.2021
The Wind
I usually rise early on weekdays to have an hour or so to complete my daily blog before getting ready for work. Since the high winds are interfering with my streaming signal I figured I would write my blog tonight and post it in the morning. The wind is gusting out of the north at up to forty-five miles per hour and my little house on wheels on the prairie is shaking. I am not fearful of the wind nor the storms for I know who controls all and who can with but the words, “Peace be still” calm any storm and silence any wind as he did on the Sea of Galilee when some fishers of men thought they were done for and woke Jesus from some much needed sleep hoping that he would say those words. Jesus did rise for the occasion, but also used it also to castigate the boys for their lack of faith. Did they really think that their loving and infinite source was going to fail to keep them afloat in the storm? Did they not remember that Jesus had already told them that they could ask anything in his name and that it would be given or done for them? Maybe the wind and the waves caused them to take their eyes off the prize for a moment. Perhaps we have all been guilty of letting ourselves get distracted.
I was taught to believe as sadly many children still are that there was something wrong with me, something so terribly wrong that the baby Jesus had to be born to die in my place so that I could be born again. Not all Christians groups teach this “born again” business, but most of them do believe that Jesus was the perfect sacrifice for our sins both those we have actually committed and those we were born with.
The whole concept of being born again comes from a intimate conversation that Jesus had with a rich Jew named Nicodemus. Nick asked Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus told him, “You must be born again.” That was way over Nicodemus’ head as evidenced by his next question, “Can I enter again inside my mother be born again?” The whole concept seemed pretty preposterous to ole Nick. He was no saint, none of us is. Jesus went on to use the wind to explain that just because we cannot see something we can nevertheless still feel it and see the effects. He also added that they who are born of and lead by the Spirit are moved about like the wind moves things.
I have not considered myself a Christian for a number of years. Before that upsets you Nick of Time folks out there I ask you to consider the three transfigured prophets who came to visit Jesus on the mountain of transfiguration some days before he was arrested and crucified. We are told it was Moses, Elijah, and Elias. Rumor was then that those three guys never died. If you believe the Bible to be literally true, Moses definitely did, because the book says God buried his body. But it says Elijah was taken up in a fiery chariot. And if Elias prayer request for twice the spirit of his master was granted as by all counts it appears to have been, he was translated too. Be that as it may or may not be, like the three retired Jedi’s – Yoda, Obi-wan Kenobi, and Luke Skywaker’s father who for a while masqueraded as Darth Vader, made a shining appearance at DV funeral pier, Moses, Elijah, and Elias showed up glowing to discuss Jesus exit strategy with him. The point I am taking perhaps too long to make is that neither Moses nor the two E’s were strictly Christians nor was Jesus whose body also glowed at that remarkable meeting. If the definition of Christian is “like Christ” or “follower of all his teachings” most if not all who profess to be Christians are not either.
The wind is blowing. The wind and the water dust and wash this ole planet and all it’s inhabitants on a regular basis. It is appointed unto us all once to die. The old preacher, trying to be cute I think said, “If you are only born once you have to die twice but if you are born twice you only have to die once.” I am with Nicodemus on this one, it all sounds pretty unbelievable and unnecessary to me. I get the thing about the wind and the spirit being the same though. When we stop breathing our bodies die. As the wind animates the trees, the tall grass, and anything not nailed down, so our higher best self, still issues and responds to divine commands, be that “Peace be still” or “Blow it down.”
Your friend and fellow traveler,
David White
Carrie Underwood – Blown Away (Official Video)
theencouragingword 