“BREATH or WIND.”

The Bible presents various symbols of the Holy Spirit, each depicting different attributes of its nature or aspects of its work. Today’s symbol is “BREATH or WIND.”

The invisible, everywhere-present power and life-giving influences of the Holy Spirit are expressed as breath or wind in the Bible: “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit” (John 3:8; cf. 20:22). The meaning of the Greek and Hebrew words for “spirit” are synonymous with “breath” or “wind.” The powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit was accompanied by the sound of a mighty, rushing wind on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:2). During the Creation, the Holy Spirit moved over the face of the waters as God’s breath of life (Gen. 1:1).

Fr. John