It was quite windy when I took my walk this morning and I found myself stopping a few times to simply watch and listen to the wind in the trees.
Which got me to thinking about a half-remembered poem from childhood. The little bit I recalled spoke of how we know the wind is there even when we can’t see it, because of the effect it has on the things we can see.
And I realized that this also describes how I know God is there, because of the effect on things (especially myself and other people) that I can see. And by the changes I’ve experienced as a result.
I searched for the poem, of course! My recollection of it was pretty sketchy, but it might very well be the poem below.
The Wind
BY ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
I saw you toss the kites on high
And blow the birds about the sky;
And all around I heard you pass,
Like ladies’ skirts across the grass—
O wind, a-blowing all day long,
O wind, that sings so loud a song!
I saw the different things you did,
But always you yourself you hid.
I felt you push, I heard you call,
I could not see yourself at all—
O wind, a-blowing all day long,
O wind, that sings so loud a song!
O you that are so strong and cold,
O blower, are you young or old?
Are you a beast of field and tree,
Or just a stronger child than me?
O wind, a-blowing all day long,
O wind, that sings so loud a song!