Starter Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, teach me how to surrender my life to the movements of the Holy Spirit; and give me a heart of freedom, spontaneity and love, where I can receive and grow the seeds of new life. Amen

Focus Phrase: Carried by the Wind

Scripture Reading: John 3:1-8

Optional Read-along: Water, Wind, Earth and Fire pp. 29-32a (Chapter One: Brother Wind, Section: Carried by the Wind.)

Spiritual Direction:

Have you seen the movie Forest Gump? If so, you probably remember the “feather theme.” Indulge us for a moment and watch/listen to the opening scene.

Hildegard of Bingen was a Christian theologian and teacher. Her writings are foundational to our modern understanding of how the Holy Spirit and our human spirits move together in life. Hildegard refers to your life as “A feather on the breath of God.” Can you picture your life this way?

Now think about this from Father Thomas Merton’s teachings: Every moment and every event of every man’s life on earth plants something in his soul. For just as the wind carries thousands of winged seeds, so each moment brings with it germs of spiritual vitality that come to rest imperceptibly in the minds and wills of men and women. Most of these unnumbered seeds perish and are lost, because men and women are not prepared to receive them: for such seeds as these cannot spring up anywhere except in the soil of freedom, spontaneity and love.

Merton speaks of the Holy Spirit working in every moment to carry new seeds of spiritual vitality to the ground of your soul. He also speaks of the soil condition: We must be prepared to receive the new seeds; and the prepared life is one of freedom, spontaneity and love.

Try this exercise from Water, Wind, Earth and Fire: Pray with the image of being “a feather on the breath of God.” Take a moment to breathe deeply and imagine how you might live more like this in your own life. The element of air invites us into a sense of trust and surrender to the Holy Spirit’s movement in our lives; it invites us to follow where the Spirit leads us.

If you have a sacred place in your home where you read, reflect and pray– (or just a place where you like to eat lunch and read the news!) place a feather there. Throughout this journey, whenever you feel lost or stuck, pray with this image of the feather on the wind of the Spirit.

Be encouraged in your practice,

Katie Martinez

Endnotes

• For daily texts with the Focus Word, Starter Prayer and link to these daily posts, text the word “journey” to 970-500-0970.
• Are you receiving the weekly guide every Sunday via email? Register here.
• Join the Orange Dots of Hope Facebook Group for spiritual conversations on the journey.

This daily devotion is part of the Summer Growth Journey: Learning to Pray with Nature with Crossroads Church. Many of us are also reading through Water, Wind, Earth & Fire: The Christian Practice of Praying with the Elements by Christine Valters Paintner. To purchase a copy, or for more information, email us at [email protected].