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July - September, 2008

The Wind and the Pine Cone

Rev. Peggy Booth

Today I was given two touchstones while biking to work. They came when partway through my ride, I asked Holy Spirit to show be a symbol from nature for healing my mind. They are the wind and the pine cone.

The wind made itself known as I was struggling ‘from the get-go’ this morning against a moderate head wind. Over and over I became aware of it and my struggle against it, and I reminded myself to relax, gear down, and enjoy the beautiful ride. It was when I did that, that I noticed pine cones here and there in the gutter — something I’d never noticed before, perhaps because the wind had blown them there or perhaps because I’d just not noticed. I was moving pretty quickly before it sank in that a pine cone could be a tangible touchstone to keep in my pocket. By then I’d passed the scattering of them that first caught my eye. I didn’t want to go back and thought maybe I’d look for one on my way home.

Somewhat disappointed or unsure of my choice not to go back, I pedaled round a corner perhaps another block and there was a mostly unopened, small cone in the gutter. I quickly stopped, picked it up, and put it in my pocket. For much of the rest of the ride to work and home again, I thought about the wind and the pine cone and their meaning to me.

The pine cone intrigues me in being partly open. It’s when a cone is fully open that its seeds come out. Perhaps it’s representative of my spiritual journey — I’m on my way, I’ve made progress and had insights – I’m partly open, but I have a ways to go before my life is fully open to God. That is, I have a ways to go in remembering to listen to Holy Spirit. It’s interesting that a pine cone, once it starts opening, can’t close again. I feel that my life will never go back to being closed to God and Holy Spirit. Without a doubt, I have started to open and will never be the same. The pine cone (as any carrier of seed) is a transitional life form. It has within it all the potential needed for rebirth. Being born again for me is becoming fully spirit. The seeds in the cone need soil, water, sun, and warmth to grow. I need Holy Spirit, mindfulness, teacher-learners, and forgiveness among the key ingredients for my spiritual growth.

More learnings may come from the pine cone, but let me now write about the wind.

At first, I wondered if the wind was a proper symbol. You certainly can’t put it in your pocket. But, the more I was with it today, the more appealing it was as a learning aide. I could imagine it from the tiniest whiff to the gale and everything in between, whether outside or an inside air movement, as being a ubiquitous expression of Holy Spirit – even my breath moving in and out. I could be reminded of the wind as the breath of Holy Spirit absolutely anytime, anywhere without needing something in my pocket.

Even with these thoughts of exciting potential, I was still riding into the wind the whole way to work, inescapably being reminded of its strength compared to me — though it wasn’t even that strong by measures of wind. I was constantly aware and I was having to work and even struggle a bit.

The forecast had indicated the wind would continue out of the east today so I mentally expected a tail wind on the way home. What I found was that at my tail it wasn’t particularly noticeable. But, I did move enjoyably and fast. Then I recognized that under many circumstances without the struggle I don’t notice the wind or not and it’s easy to assume that I’m just doing it on my own. Life can be like that. When I’m sailing along, everything is going my way, ‘life is good,’ I can become unaware of the wind or Holy Spirit. I can assume that I’m ‘so good’ at just doing what I know how to do best. I’m just ‘tooling along’ ‘I’ve got it made’ — who needs to work on any lessons, who needs Holy Spirit.
 
Conversely, it is in those times when we seem to struggle and are aware of every little pain that we most remember God. The funny thing is that life is easiest and most joyous when we listen to and go with Holy Spirit and just let him move us/blow us along. Things — in that perspective — are not of our power. It certainly helps to recognize that and ‘Let go and let God.’ While it’s in the midst of the struggle that we are more aware of God, it’s useful to see that the whole journey is harder when we’re fighting it. Metaphorically, the key seems to be to pay attention to the Holy Spirit and follow his lead and direction, letting him do the work of blowing me where I am to go.

The next day, the winds are calm. I am reminded “be still and listen to the Voice.”

© 2008, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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