Living beneath the wind has a personal story behind it. When I was young the outside world felt more free and less intimidating than home. If I could make my way quietly out of the house in the early morning I knew I was free until dark. I spent many days on my own exploring how the city worked. The beach was almost always my destination and was worth long bike rides or navigating buses to get to the shores of Coronado. San Diego is beautiful but it’s temps are mild and quite often we have a breeze-even in the summer. Once I had spent the morning swimming in the ocean, the wind felt like ice and it would take a lot to warm up my scrawny body. I discovered a space that extends about 8 inches above the sand where the wind became still. I could lay there completely flat against the sand and allow my body to warm. The noise would fade and the warmth of the sun would penetrate. I took many naps there with the ocean waves lulling me before I started the long journey home. As I grew older and began to enter into contemplative space with the Lord, I would often compare it to the feeling I had beneath the wind. Noises fade, the wind becomes still, and the warmth of love covers.

It is in this space I can see what is mine and what is not.
In this space I can feel the Holy Spirit’s prompting and divine love.
When I listen to others in this space, I can feel the presence of the Lord in their life.
When I am in this space, I am beneath the distracting noise of my own mind, my own wind.
When I am in this space, I know all is well.

I invite you to consider what you notice about life, what does time in nature stir in you?
Are you more comfortable with silence, stillness or solitude?
Why do you think this is?
In what ways might you see God in more of your daily life; in people and in creation?

This section will feature various writings and questions to ponder. It is intended to help you on your journey of reflection and contemplation. To foster a life of living Beneath the Wind.

“All is well, all is well, and all manner of things shall be well.”

Julian of Norwich