spiritwind

I went with my family to the Fourth of July fireworks display in downtown Green Bay. For years, we've made it a tradition to sit on one of the bridges over the Fox River, since the fireworks are shot off right along the water, and the bridge has a great view with no trees or buildings in the way. If you haven't noticed, the weather as of late has been way hotter than normal, even for the hot and humid Midwest that I've come to expect. There'd been hardly any wind all day, making the heat even more intolerable because of the stagnant air.
We got to the bridge and sat there for about an hour staking our claim to a patch of concrete before the fireworks show actually started.  The heat wasn't too bad, and things were starting to cool down a bit as the evening wore on.
The fireworks began.  I had seen another set of fireworks the night before in Iola, WI at my aunt and uncle's house, and I've seen countless displays before, and this show was pretty average.  Despite the normalcy, I believe there's still something magical about fireworks that captures peoples' attentions and mesmerizes them, myself included.
Not but a few minutes after the fireworks started, the wind picked up.  This was no gentle breeze, either.  There were huge, somewhat continuous gusts, forcing seagulls to struggle to fly forward and powerful enough to send hats flying if you weren't careful.  In years past, the bridge has always been a little more windy than along the shoreline, because of the lack of trees and buildings blocking the breeze, but this was unexpected and extreme.  This wind was also a bit abnormal because it was coming from the north, not something that happens frequently in our area.  It actually made things a bit chilly for some people, including my little brother.  My dad mentioned after we got in our car to head home that he still felt like he had grit in his eyes from the wind blowing right into our faces, and he and I were both squinting for most of the fireworks show.

The wind also got me thinking about the Holy Spirit.
This summer's theme at Luther Park Bible Camp (where I'm working for my 4th time on summer staff) is Spiritlife, talking all about the presence and role of the Holy Spirit in our everyday lives.  One way the Spirit is often described or thought about is through the analogy of the wind.  We can't see the wind, but we can feel it and see its effects.  Just like the wind, the Holy Spirit is an invisible force in our lives, given by God the Father and commissioned by Jesus to be with us always.  We can't see it, but sometimes we can feel it, and we can see how it works in our lives, if we take the time to look.

Sometimes the wind comes out of nowhere, blowing us over and making us squint to see.

Sometimes the Spirit comes without warning, moving us, shaking us, and changing the way we look at the world, those around us, ourselves, and our God.

Come, Holy Spirit.