The Wind Bloweth Where It Listeth
written by: Fay L. Loomis
Years ago, I heard Huston Smith, scholar of religious studies, speak at the Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles. When he recited John 3:38, I was transported into another world. According to The King James Bible, the verse states: “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” I don’t remember anything else he said about that scripture.
Later, I reflected on the meaning of those words. Wind is mysterious. We don’t know how it rises, stirs things up, and then disappears, just as we don’t know how spirit works.
People in all cultures acknowledge spirit behind the material world we touch with our senses. We know we are born of spirit and use words like God, eternal, infinite to define the substance of spirit. At the same time, we know we cannot define this expansive concept. Like Plato, we only perceive shadows.
Nevertheless, we continue to search for what captures our spirit in sacred writings, the arts, and agape, the Greek word for godly love. Until we know the true meaning of spirit, let us accept the invitation to love one another expressed in 1 John 4:7.
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