Moment of Oneness: Season of Creation 2022 - The Elements: Air / Wind

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The Element of Air/Wind

Prayer: All praise be Yours, Holy one, for Brother Wind and Air, and fair and stormy, all the weather's moods, by which you cherish all that you have made.  Amen. Saint Francis of Assisi

Song: Breath of the One Life by Jan Novotka

https://youtu.be/FV8dQhTZe_o

Reading

Wind is the only one of the four elements that is invisible. The gift of air lacks any discernible form or color or texture, but it makes everything else come alive both literally, as in the gift of life-giving breath, and figuratively, as in the buffeting of things by the wind’s power. In Genesis we are told that the mighty wind was present at the very beginning of creation. 

Wind is air in motion caused by differences in atmospheric pressure.  We measure the wind or air by the effect it has on other things, such as the sail of a boat billowing, the treasure of a cooling breeze on a warm day, the gentle bending and bowing of grass in the field, the steady rhythm of our own breathing, or the powerful effects of a strong storm knocking down trees and power lines. Air is also the medium of sound waves and thus of language and communication. It is connected to voice, our ability to speak of what is the most precious to us and to communicate with others.

The metaphor of air or wind offers us a variety of ways to understand our experience of God: as life-breath, as inspiration, as enlivener, as directional guide, or power force, or as the current that supports flight.

The element of wind invites us to "open our souls to Being," which means opening ourselves to a God who flows in directions we cannot predict. This element invites us to a radical posture of surrender in releasing a hold on our own plans and making room for God to blow us in the most life-giving direction. As a metaphor for God, wind reminds us that God's ways are not our ways. The invitation of wind requires of us a detachment from our own longing to control the direction of our lives and a simultaneous surrender to Spirit to allow ourselves to be carried to places of growth and newness.

(excerpt from “Brother Wind” in Water, Wind, Earth and Fire by Christine Valters Paintner)

Reading: Deep Peace of the flowing air to you,

which fans your face on a sultry day,

the air which you breathe deeply, rhythmically,

which imparts to you energy, consciousness, life.

Deep peace of the flowing air to you! (Celtic Prayer)

Prayer of Thanksgiving for Brother Wind

Holy One, we thank you for Brother Wind. 

We are in awe of Wind’s power to create change—

In a whisper heard only within our hearts. 

We thank you.

 

Wind serenades us as it blows through the trees and canyons 

Or simply rustles through the fallen autumn leaves. 

We thank you.

Wind cools us on a hot summer night, 

And carries the sweet scents of summer. 

Wind stirs us to action in song and symphony. 

Holy One, we thank you and give you praise for Brother Wind. 

By Beatrice Hernandez, OSF Wheaton Franciscans—2010

Blessing of Wind

Spirit of Creation, 

in the beginning you blew over the waters, 

coaxing the earth up from the depths of the sea, 

and inviting all creatures to rise up on their own wings. 

Spirit of Renewing Life, 

you breathe into us our very first moment. 

Invigorate us with your gift of energy and newness. 

Continue to breathe expansively in us, 

inviting us to a vision for what is possible in our lives. 

Spirit of Restlessness, 

stir us from our longing for comfort that author often stifles us, 

help us to release from the places that keep us stuck,

and guide us in the direction you would have us go. 

Spirit of the Great Winds, 

help us to hear your voice in the midst of the whirlwind of our lives. 

Grant us the trust to hold on while we are being buffeted by life storms. 

Blessings of wind be upon us. 

May our sails billow wide, 

may we breathe deeply the gift of inspiration, 

may we be carried to the place of our resurrection, 

May we be fully free. Amen.

(adapted from Water, Wind, Earth & Fire by Christine Valters Paintner)

Song: Let Go of the Shore by Karen Drucker

https://youtu.be/HwWFZk4DI-w