Lenten Photo Devotion: Day 10
SPIRIT
Then he took a deep breath and breathed into them. "Receive the Holy Spirit,"
John 20:22
My family had a favorite vacation spot when I was growing up. The gorgeous Jekyll Island off the coast of Brunswick, GA. Even as a child I was in awe of her trees. Inland and on the marsh side of the Island there are towering Live Oaks covered in Spanish Moss and Resurrection Ferns. It was, however, the trees along the ocean side that fascinated me the most. As you can see in the above picture, these trees are shaped by the constant flow of wind coming in off of the Atlantic Ocean. Even on the stillest of days these trees appear to be bent under the high wind of a hurricane.
Today, as I reflect on God's Spirit I am reminded that scripture often speaks of the Holy Spirit being breathed into us or onto us. As the sound of a mighty rushing wind the Holy Spirit is said to fall upon us and we are transformed - bent to a new way of being or of living. Filled with the Holy Spirit we are drawn closer to God and (in good Wesleyan terms) closer to perfection.
As we journey into Lent let us desire to be like these trees: Let our lives show signs of a constant blowing of the Holy Spirit upon us. May we be shaped and transformed in ways that show God's constant movement and breath upon us.
Come,
Holy Spirit,
Come
