Wind of the Spirit

“The wind blows whatever 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

The wind too has its work to do. The windmill harnesses the freedom of the wind – a biblical symbol for the unfettered spirit – to the ponderous purpose of the millstone. The result is wheat and ground corn, hot bread on the table.

The result is also human habitation. Windmills built on a windy promontory or along such an artery of commerce as a river or stream, became centers of settlement. The Wind of the Spirit is my first painting celebrating a windmill, that shows just such a community of solid stone cottages clustered around the mill. It is dusk, and a welcoming golden light pours out of the mill and church and cottage windows. A kindred light bathes the clouds.

Fleecy clouds and delicate “V’s” of geese trace the comings and goings of the wind. But only the blades of this mill harness the power of the wind to the service of man. We may not live by bread alone, but when wind grinds flour, we are nourished body and soul.