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.