SOUL SEARCH

    

     The biggest obstacles in my life reside in the soul. During my earthly residence, harm has visited me and mine. Fear knocked and wanted to barge in along with hopelessness, despair, and depression. Even death lingered in the background at times, hoping for a chance to trigger my demise. 

     All because I allowed abandonment to dictate and blur my vision in the midst of circumstances. I struggled to overcome the adversity on my own. The peace and beauty of waking up to a fresh, clean slate each day, which I had previously cherished, were shattered while I remained in this funk.
     Why did I let a small chink and then another portion of my soul break away, leaving me unsure whether I could depend on God? Was it due to the extent of my emotional pain and the bewildering circumstances I faced? Why God?
     Finally, when I was honest and admitted to myself that things were beyond my control, I realized that it was I, not God, who pulled away. As I reached out for His power and courage, I also asked my heavenly Father to make some sense of all the turmoil and to please take over. I admitted that I needed help with this.
     You can fill in the blanks with your own challenges here. We have all been there. 

     I had to trust again. I know from experience that God and His ways are good. He has mended my broken heart, calmed my screaming emotions, and reshaped my thinking many times. He has restored my soul and helped me to trust others again. Fears have been defeated, and faith revived.  
     It is a joy when I face the day with a mindset like that—to abandon the doubts and limitations and allow Jesus' words and actions to become my own. But I won’t deny the fact that every day is filled with decisions to follow my true north, and to apply His wisdom.
     Now, when I choose to walk against the grain of this culture, instead of feeling inferior, I know His promises are true. I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. 

     God will never leave or forsake me. All of creation around me demonstrates what a marvelous, all-knowing mind thought out every remarkable detail and the diversity of creatures, their habitat, their needs, and provisions for it all. It is good.
     Man-made bombs, poisons, garbage, war, chaos, and destruction of life might break down and ruin parts of this creation for a time. Still, we can look toward a vast expanse of mountains, prairies, woodlands, oceans, and waterways. Their beauty shouts to all who will stop and gaze in wonder at the great mind, imagination, and execution of the higher power, the Creator, who spoke them into existence. 

     Life abounds and thrives within territories that are free of highways, traffic noise, and skyscrapers, as well as housing developments. Man indeed is not God. God is over all.
     I sense the order and the enormity of the Creator’s abilities each time I watch the timing of the leaves that fall from deciduous trees, and in the springtime, I watch as the tender bright green leaves push through the tough bark. Amazing!
      In late spring, due to some inner clock or a knowing instinct, birds flew farther north to other fields and nesting areas. Only a few remained in this area.

     Just two weeks ago, our backyard was again bustling with lesser goldfinches perched, chirping, and flitting back and forth, impatient for their turn to get at the millet seeds in our bird feeder.
     Swallows return each year to raise their brood under the cover of our front porch, then leave for other places once their offspring are grown. Millions of butterflies fly hundreds of miles south of the US border. This could not all be by chance.
     Mayflies are a wonder. Living underwater as larvae until they burst out as an adult for 24 hours or less, just long enough to reproduce, then they expire without even a mouth since their job is done. A food source for fish, frogs, lizards, and others, this cycle facilitates the reproduction of their species to initiate the process and maintain the supply. How amazing.
     Who placed those tiny hairs so perfectly in our ears so that the vibrations and frequencies could be sent and interpreted by the brain as either music notes played by various instruments?  Human dialogue at varying paces, languages, and tones that could be construed for millions of meanings, back and forth, sending communications to declare love, hatred, indifference, or sounds of worship.
     The enemy comes in like a flood to diminish the complexity of the processes it takes to focus and solve problems, to write a sonnet, or to fashion an orchestral composition that soothes or thrills. 

     I look again to my true north, the truth teller. I reflect and soak in His presence to clear my mind of the clutter and the din of the voices clambering to warp my affections.
     Just as a good night’s sleep is necessary to reset and clear the brain so that it can function at its best the next day, each morning, our purpose and focus on God’s truth; our calling to this world must be a starting point to reset our mind, heart, and will. Under God's divine tutelage, we accomplish our unique purpose. 

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love him,” the Apostle Paul declared to the Corinthians. (1 Corinthians 2:9) 

BLOWING IN THE WIND

"The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind

The answer is blowin' in the wind."  -Bob Dylan

      In September 2025, we drove north from Pensacola, Florida, to the area west of Asheville, North Carolina, to visit my daughter and son-in-law. This video shows the low visibility during the ten-hour trip. The winds were blowing, the traffic was thick with people fleeing big cities in the path of Hurricane Helene, and as I kept an eye on my weather app, I could see that rather than evading the hurricane as we believed, we were right in the path of the storm coming inland.

     Days later, in Maggie Valley, after the wind and rain subsided, we could see the damage done by the wind and the rushing waters. Men were out volunteering to cut trees that blocked roads and driveways. Neighbors rushed to help the less fortunate whose houses flooded, taking furniture, pictures off the walls, valuables, and memorable treasures to pile outside in the sunshine.

     Even now, almost a year later, my kids in that area have only recently received help for the foundation failure they repaired due to the extreme amount of precipitation. Their mountain road is finally being resurfaced this week.

     The natural winds can be so destructive when they suddenly wreak havoc on us as tornadoes, hurricanes, wind shears, and typhoons. 

     Yet in life, there are favorable winds that can empower us and that can blow into our lives to fulfill our purpose. We can be people driven by the mighty rushing wind of the Spirit of God. Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord. 

     We are commissioned to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit to persuade and win hearts and lives so that many can be forgiven, embrace Jesus as the Son of God, accept His gift of salvation, so that through eternity they may enjoy the blessed life eternal with God rather than being sent to eternal separation from the Father to the recesses of the Abyss, Hell, and an eternity of suffering for their rejection of God.

     I heard somewhere, "the heir force will dismantle all the ungodly structures on this earth." The Son of God, legally, took care of that and eventually will completely restore the earth to its intended Eden. It is our responsibility as joint-heirs to follow the example of Jesus Christ. In love, to share the message far and wide and watch as God frees them one by one from the curse of sin and darkness, and rejoice as they walk and become the light.

     

The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind. Do you hear it?

     Jesus said, "If you hold to my teachings, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:31b, 32 NIV

   

     I love the expression of the First Nations Version of the New Testament: John 8:31-32 "so Creator Sets Free (Jesus) said to the Tribal Members who believed in him, "If you walk in my footsteps and follow my teachings, you will truly be my followers. Then you will see and understand the truth that sets all people free."

     When I was in high school, there were many folk songs sung about the Vietnam War, troubles and violence in our nation, and the questions that many were asking about our lives. I heard this first sung by Peter, Paul, and Mary. 

     With the help of a friend and neighbor who accompanied me on guitar, I sang this woeful song of the 1960s for my semester grade in my concert choir class at Marion High School in Marion, Indiana. The words of the refrain kept running through my mind as I wrote this article about the Wind.