Welcome back!
Today’s post is brought to you by the letter ‘T’, as in Taylor Anne Vigil, our resident guest author. Why, you say?
Because this is the first post in Taylor’s new weekly slot!
She’ll be bringing you something every Saturday – whether it’s a personal reflection (like this), poetry, a piece of a novel, or commentary on the world.
So say goodbye to Taylor Anne Vigil, Guest Author.
Say HELLO! to Taylor Anne Vigil, Resident Author.
My uncle Paul once told me something I’ll never forget.
We were sitting in the front room of my now late great-grandmother’s house. Surrounded by statues and depictions of Jesus, we looked out the window at the melting snow. It was windy out, so windy that you could hear it whistle through the window pane. In the gale, delicate snowflakes swirled.
“When you listen to the wind, what do you hear?” my uncle asked.
I looked at him, caught completely off guard. I hadn’t been thinking about the wind at all.
How could I possibly focus on the weather when my grandmother was dying of cancer right in front of us?
How could my mind wander to anything else when all I could think about was how we would say goodbye?
Still, I sat. I listened to the howl, to the tree branches softly hitting the windows and walls of the house. I knew the type of answer he wanted to hear. He wouldn’t accept the answer I had formulated in my mind: “All I hear are the trees.”. I knew the answer was complicated, something I wouldn’t be able to come up with off the top of my head. For several seconds, I was struck dumb.
Finally, my uncle raised his eyebrows, an expression which got me giggling.
“Okay, you’re thinking too hard,” he told me, flashing his crooked smile.
I smiled back at him, despite my confusion, and he looked out the window again. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, soaked in the rays of sun that had just begun to poke through the clouds.
“When I hear the wind,” he began, opening his eyes. “I hear God’s breath.”
I nodded, but I didn’t comprehend. Not yet, not then. I was too young to understand. I am older now. I have seen and learned things I couldn’t conceive of then. And I see now what he meant. I know.
Whenever the wind blows, I feel Him. When the wind blows, I know that He is there. I feel His arm wrap around my shoulder. I hear His voice whisper in my ear, “You’re doing good, my child.” Then nothing more. I feel His breath on my face and I know He is near.
Wind, to me, is the “Breath Of Heaven”. It is God’s way of telling me I’m doing something good. It is Him saying, “Don’t be afraid. I am right here with you.”
I see. I know.
